Schoolgirls und Panzer
by YayaSamuko
Summary: Due to some fund problem, the government is forced to shut down several schools. Otonokizaka, one among them, has decided to practice Sensha-do, in hope of proving themselves during the tournament and believing that that would help them saving their ship-school. [Love Live characters-centered]
1. Of announcement and the big finds

**A/N: I do not own Girls und Panzer and Love Live or any characters mentioned in this fanfiction. Also, I made few modifications regarding the class assignment of the LL characters so it will make more sense.**

[-x-x-x-]

A small crowd of schoolgirls clad in their white and blue uniforms were gathered at a certain hangar at a certain school-ship. There were about 30 of them and were all students of Otonokizaka high school, a small and not-so-rich town-ship that is affiliated with Tokyo and was usually sailing around the Pacific Ocean.

While most of them were awing at the huge building in front of them, the others were staying calm, paying attention to the student council president, a blonde and tall girl, who was explaining them what was about to come.

"As you may already know, our school has once practiced the art of Senshado. However, for variant reasons, it was forced closed. Fear not though; records are there telling us that there are still few tanks remaining around this ship."

Few of the girls nodded as the vice president, a purple-haired, very well-endowed girl, cleared her throat. "As to make our research easier, you will be forming teams and investigate few areas mentioned by the documents we have found."

And with that, the girls were handed maps and started walking each in a direction after wishing each others good luck.

It was a spring day like any others, with the sun on it apogee and the ocean at the horizon decorating the landscape. All around the Otonokizaka town-ship was calm, following its usual pace of life despite having received a very bad new few days prior. Due to the lack of fund from the government, several school-ships will be closed down, most accurately, the poorest ones. However, they have proposed a solution: Sensha-do. Any school that might prove themselves worthy and talented in the art of tankery will get spared, regardless their status. They even promised additional funds.

And that was how come the girls students of that average school has decided to form its own Sensha-do team per the student council's and moral committee's approval. They somehow managed to gather about 30 students in total who are willing to fight to protect their beloved school.

[-x-x-x-]

A loud sigh escaped a certain gingerhead girl whose hair was attached in pigtails. She was the shortest of their group and was investigating the forest that was located not far from the school building. She gave another look at the map in her hands and looked around. "One of them should be around here…"

The other red-head beside her however smiled as she placed a hand on her shorter friend's shoulder. "I am sure that we'll find it very fast, Mika."

The three other members of the team also smiled as they got deeper into the forest. The one leading their group had purple hair attached in a sidetail while a girl with a ginger ponytail was walking beside her, trying to match her pace. "Though, are you really okay with this, Seira-san?"

The taller girl gave a tilt of the head as she turned to her comrade. "Why shouldn't I?"

"I mean you were assigned with us randomly." Mika continued. "On the other hand, Ria-chan was assigned in another group."

Seira smiled before resuming her walk. "I wouldn't worry too much about her. Ria is smart and courageous. My role as her older sister is to believe in her."

The purplenette's words earned her a pair of smile from Hideko, Hanamaru and Mika while Fumiko chuckled. "You truly are something, Seira-san."

"Please, no need to be that formal." The tall girl replied in a calm tone. "We will be teammates after all."

The younger girls' smile widened. "Then, Seira-chan." The pigtailed girl said cheerfully, earning a chuckle from the ginger that was standing beside her.

There was another round of chuckle before they continued a little more and arrived at a clearer. In the middle of it were several metallic pieces that caught the four girl's attention and got closer to have a look at it.

"I found a track and the wheels I guess." Fumiko said as she scanned the round metals.

"And this is the turret." Hideko continued while kneeling down and whistled. "It sure is in a very bad shape."

"What is this, zura…?" Hanamaru grabbed a metallic box and scanned it.

"I guess… That was a while since it has last served so it's only normal." The purplenette added as she pushed a large metal box aside so she could see something that might help them identify the tank. "Woa! It's all so rusty."

Mika too leaned closer and checked what was written on what seemed like a part of radio and other things that might help them. "I think that it's a Type 97…"

"A type 97?"

"Yes! It's a Japanese medium Tank."

Fumiko nodded before grabbing her cellphone and dialed the student council's number. "Hello! We found a Type 97. We'll send you the coordination right away."

" _Thank you for your hard work. We will send someone to grab them right away."_ The voice of the vice-president was heard from the mobile and the group of girl smiled.

"All right! It was faster than expected."

[-x-x-x-]

At the other side of the ship, another group was looking around in an abandoned parking. This one group composed of four girls were either running around of looking bored.

"Can you remind me once again why are we looking at a parking?" The raven-haired shortest girl asked, annoyed, as she turned to her more energetic ginger friend.

"Because a tank looks like a car, right nya?"

The brunette who was standing beside her shook her head politely and placed a hand on the orange-haired girl's shoulder. "I don't think it does work like that, Rin-chan…"

"Besides…" The last member of the group, a red-haired girl, was twirling her hair with a finger as her other hand was holding the map that should be indicating the possible locations where the tanks might be. "This will be the third spot we look at."

Niko let go of a sigh before undoing her pigtails. "Guess we have no other choice then. How about asking the people around? Surely, no one will resist the pleading look of the Universe's number one idol~"

Maki rolled her eyes. "Gross!"

"What did you just say?" The petite girl yelled angrily. "Seriously, Maki-chan. Why are you always like that?"

"And why did I even accept your confession?" The red-head sighed, remembering that she was supposed to be the ravenette's girlfriend.

"Because no one can resist Niko-Nii's smile!" The older girl replied with a goofy grin. "You should feel honored that someone as amazing as myself has decided to let you fall in love with me."

Rin and Hanayo however were just sweatdropping at their friend's antic. _'These two are just so hopeless…'_

And with Maki and her girlfriend arguing, the more innocent duo has decided to continue looking around. As they continued to walk and stole glance at the cars around them, the ginger girl let go of a yawn. "Though it was very sudden all of this nya…"

"You mean about us joining the Sensha-do team? Or because of the school closing down."

"Both to be honest." Rin answered as she glanced at the sky, slowing down with her steps. "I mean, we joined because I think driving tanks might be fun but playing with so much on the table…"

Hanayo was surprised. He friend being worried about something was very rare so she didn't really know how to respond. She just continued to walk forward, like how the Nishizumi style has taught them. Surely, the brunette was a fan of idols so she knows the actualities about the best Sensha-do commanders. That fact has made her friend think about inviting her to join alongside her.

Meeting most people they already knew on the day of recruitment for the Sensha-do team however was a big surprise but made them more or less assured. They knew that they were ready to do anything to save their school and that mentality was a bound that could be helpful for them.

"Oh! Kayo-chin; look!" Rin suddenly stopped on her track and brought back her friend into reality after having her thoughts elsewhere. The later turned to the direction her friend was pointing and felt her eyes widening. "It's a tank, right? A tank nya!"

"It's huge…" The chubby girl commented, her jaws falling as she was looking at the massage red-colored tank in front of them. It had a fixed barrel atop it and long heavy-looking tracks connecting its wheels. It was tranquilly parked in the middle of few pickup trucks. "A JagdTiger…"

"A what?"

"A JagdTiger!" The taller girl repeated. "It is among the best tanks out there, with it's high-resistance blindage and its 128 mm gun. I never thought that I will ever get the chance to see one in real." She said in a very excited voice, holding her glasses in her hands and a huge grin on her face. "I heard that it is a very reliable tank, usually used by Kuromorimine. Even Oharai had difficulty defeating it last year."

Rin however just smiled. "Kayo-chin sure is very energetic nya…"

[-x-x-x-]

Nozomi gave one last nod before placing back her cellphone on the table and turned to her blonde friend who was sitting beside her desk in the student council room. "Rin-chan's group has also found a JagdTiger and I already told the automobile team to go pick it up."

Eri nodded as she signed another paper. "I'm glad to hear that."

"That makes it three tanks in that case." A raven-haired girl stepped in the office with a pile of document in her hands. Beside her was a petite red-head who was equally bringing several documents. "I knew that our school used to practice Sensha-do back then but I never thought there would be this much document lying around."

The purplenette stood up and helped the two newcomers placing the papers on the large table and started looking through them. "Though most of them are either lost or already sold out, there should still be few ones around here." She said, looking at a picture.

Dia nodded as she also took a paper. "So, with the Type 97 and the JagdTiger, that makes it three tanks."

"Yeah!" Eri nodded as she stood up from her chair and walked near the window to look at the field. A tank was in the middle of it, being repaired by the other members of the student council and moral committee. "I just hope the others won't be in a worse condition than that old IS-2."

Her spiritual friend walked beside her to contemplate the green large tank and so did the Kurosawa sisters. "And when I thought that the Stalin was going to be our most powerful machine." Dia said calmly. "Now with the JagdTiger, our chances of winning are up."

Ruby nodded before returning back to the papers. "Though, I heard the maintenance of the Type 97 will take some time and budget since it was completely in detached pieces."

The student council president sighed as she sat back on her chair. "And that's our job to do. We also have to do our best."

The three other girls nodded.

[-x-x-x-]

Four girls were walking deeper into the ship, lamps in hand and were looking for traces of what might look like a tank. They have spent one long hour walking the blocs and asking the navy crew if they have seen something but with no luck.

The one leading the group, a red-head, let go of a sigh as they closed another door. "Not here either."

The blonde beside her gave her a smile. "We can't give up yet, Yukiho-chan. Let us look at that other door." She said before running to said direction and entered the room only to get disappointed. "Nothing either."

The two other girls, who looked alike if it wasn't for their hair color and hairstyle, continued to walk. The brunette one turned to her sister who was holding the map. "Kokoro…?"

The ravenette gave another glance at the map and drew a cross on the upper right spot of it. "Nothing here too I suppose."

"Then, let us go into the next bloc." Yukiho proposed, leading the group into another hallway made of metal walls. As they continued to walk, the uniform-clad girls couldn't help but to look around. "Though it's surprising. I have never expected that there would be so many things like this bellow where we used to walk everyday."

Arisa nodded. "After all, we are on a ship."

And they continued for a while until arriving at a dead end and sighed. However, before they have decided to turn back, Kokoa's eyes caught sign of something. "Hey! Look!" She pointed up and the others raised their head and lamplight to see something hanging on the ceiling.

"Could it be…?"

"What's a tank doing there? And how come did they attach it like that?" The brunette rubbed her chin before picking her cellphone from her pocket. "Anyway, let's call Nozomi-senpai to let her know about this first."

Kokoro nodded as she took another glance at the green-colored tank and looked down at a small notebook in her hands as to compare it. The blonde of the group leaned closer to her as to have a look at the notebook and made few back and fourth from the tank hanging and the book. "I think it looks a lot like the Firefly…"

"The what?" Yukiho also leaned closer and looked at the drawing. "A Sherman Firefly? It's an American tank?"

Arisa nodded before turning to Kokoa. The later nodded back and dialed their spiritual senior's number.

[-x-x-x-]

Meanwhile, another group was hiking at the other side of the ship. It was composed of four girls with a brunette with large forehead as the leader. "According to the data Erena has gathered, it should not be that far now."

The orange-haired girl who was walking behind her nodded. "Though this path seems dangerous. We have been hiking for a while now."

Another girl with long blue hair beside her chuckled. "This road… I can feel a strong aura coming from it. As if it has some connection with my reason of falling down in earth."

The red-head of the group gave a tilt of the head as she shoved a rock aside and continued to walk. "What are you talking about, Yoshiko-san?"

"It's Yohane!" The shorter girl corrected childishly, raising her voice.

That only made Anju and Tsubasa to chuckle. "Right right. Yohane-chan~" The ginger teased before jumping on another rock, followed by the three others. From that spot, they were able to have a clear view of the town-ship they were in and enjoyed the moment for a couple of minute before continuing their walk. It however didn't take them long before finding something that looked like a tank, resting atop several rocks and in high altitude. "Bingo!"

The brunette smiled. "As expected of Erena's gathered data. Only the traveling time was long but we found it with no fault."

Yoshiko also chuckled as she made a peace sign with her left hand. "A Matilda II… as expected for the fallen angel Yoshiko."

Anju couldn't help but to chuckle. "Though I don't think it suits our group well… I mean we are more of a freelancer who prefers long-range battles while the Matilda's strength is more on its armor but has low speed."

The bluenette looked down and sulked at her companion's words. "For you to say that… The three of you already have experience with Sensha-do… However," the awkwardly raised her head and forced a smile. "Nothing is impossible for the great fallen angel. I will prove everyone that I will master the art of Sensha-do."

"That's the spirit!" Erena cheered before grabbing her cellphone.

[-x-x-x-]

Another group was looking around the town though, looking for clues among the inhabitants. It was composed of five members who were all taking things slowly but surely. The entered another shop and went looking at the merchandises.

"Kanan! Kanan!" The blonde of the group called for her friend who was looking at few posters and pointed at a screen. "Look! Look! It's a dancing penguin."

The bluenette sighed before smiling. "I see that you're energetic as always, Mari." She said while walking beside her girlfriend, grabbing the shorter girl by the shoulder and started walking deeper into the store. "But we shouldn't forget that we're on a mission."

"Of course!" Mari replied before giving a salute. The two of them continued to walk around the shop, looking at the posters and replique of miniature tanks collected around. It didn't take them long before meeting with the three other members of their group. "Hey, Chika-chan, Yô-chan and Riko-chan! Did you find anything?"

The ginger shook her head. "We asked everyone around here but none of them has seen anything that looks like a real tank."

"Too bad." Riko sighed.

And with that, the five of them left the store. "So, where's our next destination?" The ash-haired girl asked.

"How about the patisserie?" The blonde proposed. "I'm kind of hungry~" She coed while clinging to her lover.

"Jeez! Mari!"

Meanwhile, the second year trio was just smiling at them. _'They're so in love~'_

' _They're so cute~"_

' _I want to take a picture for my yuri collection…'_

It didn't take them long before arriving toward the nearest bakery. It was a place they never went to. After all, Otonokizaka, despite being among the smallest ship, was very large, so it was possible that someone from the front side would have never went to the rear side since the school was located at the middle.

"Welcome!" The shop owner greeted them. "Feel free to browse around." He said in a cheerful voice, motioning at the shelves behind him.

Mari had stars in her eyes as she watched the sweets while Riko's eyes have caught something else. "Don't tell me…"

Yô too was surprised as she joined her red-head friend while Chika and Mari were browsing the cakes. "There's no way it's a real one…right?"

The owner of the shop saw the two girls looking at the thing that was placed deeper into the shop, near the chairs and tables where few customers were eating their snacks. He laughed loudly and walked in their direction. "Isn't it beautiful?"

The ash-haired girl nodded. "It looks so real."

"Because it's a real one!" The man replied before laughing like a sailor, making the two girls look at him. "I might not look like one but I'm actually the second son of a woman who was famous in practicing Sensha-do. My mother has offered me this amazing Crusador for my 18th birthday."

"Really?!"

"Of course!" He smiled before walking toward the gray medium tank. "Though, I never managed to get my driving license. However, I did take mechanical course in college so I know how to take good care of it." The man said deeply before looking back at the girls. "Judging by your uniforms, you're from Otonokizaka, right?"

"W-well… Yes I guess…" The red-head nodded, unsure about how to respond since it should have been obvious. After all, only one school can be found on one ship and since they were in the Otonokizaka one…

The shop owner laughed once again. "I heard that you are looking for tanks, right? How about I give you my darling?"

"Wait! What?"

"This is something really important to me." He placed a hand on the machine's armor and closed his eyes. "However, this town is more important. I don't want to leave it. I love spending my days baking sweets for the citizen of Otonokizaka. Their smiles alone are enough to make the heart of this old sailor happy." He turned to the girls and gave a smile. "I want to do anything I could to protect this town. So, please take good care of her." He then bowed his head.

Yô and Riko were taken aback but quickly bowed back. "W-we'll take good care of it! Thank you for your support!"

[-x-x-x-]

The last group who went to search around the school ground was just happily eating in the middle of abandoned buildings. Their leader, much to a certain bluenette's unhappiness, has decided to take a pause and has forced everyone else to take a rest.

"I heard that the other groups have all found a tank each." The gray-haired girl stated as she read a message.

Umi sighed as she gave a look at their ginger friend. "The sun has almost settled. At this rate, we will be the only one who hasn't found one."

"Relax, Umi-chan, relax!" Honoka said calmly as she shoved a bread in her mouth and made a delighted face. "Yummy~"

The fourth member of the group however did not like all this. "Senpai! Please take this more seriously! It's the fate of our school we are talking about." She said sternly.

"Ria-chan, you worry too much." Their leader replied calmly before turning toward their ash-haired friend. "Do you know what kind of tanks they have found?"

Kotori just shook her head, that smile never leaving her face. Both Ria and Umi sighed. "Jeez! Please take this seriously!"

"I agree with Umi-senpai!" The purple-haired girl whose hair was attached in pigtails took a glance at the map she was holding and sighed. "There's just one last building we could look at." She said in a low tone.

"Let's go!" The bluenette grabbed Honoka by the wrist and started dragging her and were soon followed by the two other members.

"Umi-chan is a meanie." The ginger pouted as she was being dragged toward another building.

They then started looking at everything, from the drawers to the shelves, looking for clues but didn't find anything. Kotori sighed as she closed the last drawer and shook her head.

"Nothing too…?"

Honoka however was smiling. "Do not give up yet, everyone. Fight da yo!" She made her signature move before starting to walk toward the exit when the floor beside her suddenly cracked and the ginger fell bellow.

"Honoka!"

"Honoka-chan!"

"Senpai!"

The three members looked through the hole and waited for an answer from the dark cave their companion has fallen in. They didn't bring any lamp after all. "Honoka-chan! Are you all right!"

There was a moment before the ginger's voice echoed from down bellow. "Yeah! I'm fine! Also, I think I found something."

"Really?"

Honoka nodded as she lit her cellphone on and looked at the yellow tank she fell onto. "I think it's a Tiger or something like that…"

Umi couldn't help but to smile while Ria turned around to see a rope and threw it on the hole to help her senior getting back upstairs. "For now, let's get you back and then we'll call Nozomi-senpai later."

[-x-x-x-]

"I see… Thank you for your hard work." Nozomi nodded before placing back her cellphone on the table and turned to Eri. "Honoka-chan's team has also found one."

The blonde nodded before turning to the Kurosawa sisters. "Thank you for your hard work! You might take a rest now." She said, looking at the window to see that the sun has already settled. "We will take care of the rest."

Dia smiled before bowing. "Well… If you'll excuse us in that case." And then, the two of them left the room, leaving the president and the vice-president alone.

The purplenette chuckled as she stepped beside her friend and hugged her. "I really hope we'll manage to save this school." Eri just nodded. "How about we go on a date when we're done with this? The stars are beautiful this time of the year~"

"I appreciate the thought but we have too much job for now… How about we go another day?"

Nozomi just chuckled.

[-x-x-x-]

"Your attention, everyone!"

Everyone turned to Eri who was stepping in front of the hangar building. Already one week has passed since the groups has found the tanks and said machines were already standing proud on the field, the girls contemplating them.

"First of all, we thank you for your hard work!" She said before grabbing a notebook and glanced at it. "And I don't want to cut your moment of glory but we have decided the assignment of which group should take which tank."

"Can't we just ride the tank we have found?" A voice from the crowd could be heard.

"We went with this order according to everyone's specialty so please listen to it." The blonde continued before reading her notebook.

 _ **Team 1:**_ _(Tiger I)_

 _Commander and Radio Operator: Kousaka Honoka_

 _Driver: … Ria_

 _Gunner: Sonoda Umi_

 _Loader: Minami Kotori_

 _ **Team 2:**_ _(Crusader)_

 _Commander: Nishikino Maki_

 _Driver: Hoshizora Rin_

 _Gunner: Yazawa Niko_

 _Radio Operator and Loader: Koizumi Hanayo_

 _ **Team 3:**_ _(JagdTiger)_

 _Commander: Takami Chika_

 _Driver: Watanabe Yô_

 _Gunner: Sawaguchi Riko_

 _Radio Operator: Ohara Mari_

 _Loader: Matsuuri Kanan_

 _ **Team 4:**_ _(Matilda II)_

 _Commander and Radio Operator: Yazawa Kokoro_

 _Driver: Kousaka Yukiho_

 _Gunner: Ayase Arisa_

 _Loader: Yazawa Kokoa_

 _ **Team 5:**_ _(Type 97)_

 _Commander: … Seira_

 _Driver: Kunikida Hanamaru_

 _Gunner: … Fumiko_

 _Radio Operator: … Mika_

 _Loader: … Hideko_

 _ **Team 6:**_ _(Sherman Firefly)_

 _Commander and Radio Operator: Kira Tsubasa_

 _Driver: Yuuki Anju_

 _Gunner: Toudou Erena_

 _Loader: Tsushima Yoshiko_ ("It's Yohane!"

 _ **Team 7:**_ _(IS-2)_

 _Commander and Loader: Ayase Eri_

 _Driver: Kurosawa Ruby_

 _Gunner: Kurosawa Dia_

 _Radio Operator: Toujou Nozomi_

Eri closed her notebook after that and had another look at the student member of the Sensha-do team. "That's the assignment. We teamed you up and assigned you to a role that fits your abilities the most. For these who are used to work together, I know you won't have any difficulty but I will ask for the new teams to learn how to cooperate."

Taking another look at the girls, Nozomi nodded. "All right! With that said, let us begin today's training. You will divided into several groups. For the Gunners, please follow Kurosawa Dia. The Drivers should join Yuuki Anju while the Loaders seek advices from Ayase Eri. The Radio Operators and Commander are free to ask me if you need something, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!"


	2. Friendly spare

With the sun at its apogee, girls covered in sweat were gathered around the field near the hangar of Otonokizaka high's Sensha-do team. Every one of them was clad in their practice outfit and was taking a small pause, also letting their tank's engine cool down a little.

A certain purple-haired girl, also tired and clad in her purple baggy T-shirt and shorts was smiling at their team who was becoming stronger after each practice. The blonde beside her placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at everyone else. "Good job keeping up, everyone! You've all improved well."

"You bet!"

Eri then stepped forward and had a look at all their tanks, namely the Tiger I, the Crusader, the IS-2, the Sherman Firefly, the Type 97, the JagdTiger and the Matilda II. She walked over to her team's chariot and placed a hand on it. They were all painted with all kind of stuff and had rust on few parts. As for the motor and engine, they are too noisy. "I think that should be enough of training today. Let us have maintenance of our tanks for now."

Few of the girls raised eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

The blonde turned to them with a smile. "You'll see."

[-x-x-x-]

"Yaaa! Take that!" Rin happily said as she shoot water at their assigned Crusader, accidentally hitting her red-head friend who was washing the external turret.

"Rin!"

"Sorry nya!" The ginger was fast to apologize, getting on her knees and cuddled with her taller friend.

Meanwhile, Hanayo and Niko just sighed before getting back inside the tank and had couldn't help but to cringe at the smell. "Ow." The brunette covered her nose. "It smells iron and oil…"

Her ravenette friend nodded as she stepped near the gunner's seat. "Even though we've already rode this tank, I can't still get used."

"Maybe because we didn't have the time to properly clean it yet…"

"That was because Miss Quarter-Russian wanted us to start practice as soon as possible."

The two of them sighed before both grabbing a piece of cloth as well as other detergent stuff and anti-oil products. They then attempted to clean the radio, the command tools and the turret controller. The inside was both cold and stinky so the two of them had to open the hatches for some aeration and as to let some light inside. Their clothes were dirty in less than ten minutes of cleaning.

"Man! It's so stinky." Niko complained as she peeked her head out of the main hatch. "Maki-chan, Rin; come help us out!"

"We're still busy cleaning the exterior though." The red-head said back as she placed the sponge she was holding on a bucket full of water before continuing to rub the metallic front armor of the machine.

Meanwhile, Rin was giving her friend a happy smile as she grabbed a yellow cloth. "Maki-chan, do your best nya!"

"Mpff…" The taller girl scoffed before turning to her ginger friend as to give her a glare. "You better act more efficiently as well, Rin! All the other drivers are already able to properly drive except you. We're going to be lagging behind at this rate."

The shorter girl flinched and looked like a sad cat as she attempted to avoid eye contact with her friend. "That's because it's kind of hard to control which track to activate at which moment."

"Rin, stop finding excuses!" Niko peeked once again from the hatch. "Even Hanamaru can drive better than you."

The catgirl started to pout. "Niko-chan is a meanie…"

However, a hand was placed on the ginger's shoulder before anyone could say anything. She raised her head to see Eri giving her a smile. "Just go with your own style. Not everyone has the same style in Sensha-do. Knowing you, Rin will become an awesome driver."

"Really, nya?" The gingerhead quickly regained her smile.

"Of course! You just need to train a little harder. And you could also ask Ruby's assistance if you want."

Rin then took the blonde's hand in hers and smiled brightly at the taller girl. There was no need to mention that they were both covered in oil, dirt and sweat. Before anyone could say anything though, the ginger ran in the direction of where the IS-2 was, waving back at the four dumbfooled girls. "Rin will leave the cleaning to you in that case! Good luck nya!"

"Rin!" Maki yelled but the shorter girl was already trying to talk to a certain petite red-head. She just decided to sigh before resuming the cleaning. "Bah!"

Eri chuckled as she saw the tsundere girl continuing the washing, clad in her usual black and red sweatshirt and black pants. "You've changed a lot, haven't you?"

The red-head turned to the blonde and pouted. "What do you mean?"

The only response she got was another chuckle before the student council president walked back toward their tank as to help Dia and Nozomi with the painting. Maki just dumbfooly watched the girl clad in her sky blue shirt and purple pants walking away.

"What was that?"

"Maki-chan," her girlfriend's voice brought Maki back into reality and she lifted her head to see Niko sitting above the Crusader's rotating turret. "Are you done yet? Hanayo and I are having difficulties inside."

"Yeah!" The red-head quickly snapped back and placed the sponge on the bucket, jumping onto the hatch after realizing that she was done cleaning the exceed of dirt on the external armor.

Meanwhile, with another group, Kanan and Yô were happily cleaning the inside of the JagdTiger while their ginger friend was taking care of the inside of the barrel. She glanced deeply inside the 128 mm that was the opening of the cannon and placed a finger on her chin.

"And how are we supposed to clean this?"

"With this!" Her gray-haired girlfriend offered a long broom-like stick whose end was cylindrical and with many spikes.

"Oh!" The ginger's moth formed a 'o' as she took the tool and examined it before getting it in the canon. With a couple of in and out, dark matters came out of the canon and covered Chika. "Ew! What's this?"

"It's canon powder." Riko replied as she looked up from cleaning the frontal armor. "Most of them are used to shoot the shells out but a part of it always gets stuck so we have to remove it manually."

"I see…" Chika wowed before giving another shoot, making sure to clean any remaining powder. However, she got tired easily and decided to peek from the hatch to have a look at her childhood friends who were restlessly fighting dirt and oil down bellow inside the massive tank. "Yô-chan, Kanan-chan; how is it down there?"

"Perfect yousoro!" The gray-haired girl saluted.

"Talking about which," Kanan stated as she looked from few peeking holes at the side of the tank. "Where did Mari go again?"

"I think she went to see Nozomi-senpai to ask her something."

"Well…"

Riko just sighed before moving to the rear area of the tank. "Anyway, this tank sure is huge!"

"It's only normal since the JagdTiger is considered as a heavy tank." The red-head turned to Tsubasa who was walking in her direction. The brunette was clad in a tracksuit that was as dirty as everyone else's. "It is among the largest German Chariot after the Gustav and the Mauss after all."

"Tsubasa-san… thank you for your hard work!"

The taller girl slightly bowed her head. "We are done with the maintenance of the Firefly so we thought about giving a hand while waiting for the paint to dry."

Then, Yoshiko, Erena and Anju stepped from beside her. Riko smiled. "We will gladly accept your help."

The other red-head nodded. "Since the Firefly was not that damaged, it was easy to take care of." She then walked toward the JagdTiger and placed a hand on its armor. "Though, this might turn harder than expected."

Her ginger girlfriend chuckled before getting atop the tank and went downstairs to meet up with Kanan and Yô. "Greeting! We are here to help you."

"Really? Thank you, Yuuki-san!"

"Please, there's no need to be that formal."

"Then, Anju-chan!" The gray-haired girl said cheerfully before grabbing another sponge and started to clean the radio. "We will be counting on your advices in that case."

Anju chuckled once again before joining the two.

Meanwhile, a certain chuunibyo girl has decided to walk over to Chika and placed a finger on her chin. "What cha doing, Chika-hane?"

"Ah! Youshiko-chan?" The ginger turned to her, letting go of her tool and swept sweat from her forehead.

"It's Yohane!" The smaller girl retorted back before sighing. "Anyway, it looks like a tough task."

"You said it! That thing is harder than it looks." Chika said before grabbing the tool once again. "Want to give a hand?"

The bluenette chuckled. "I guess it can't be helped! The great fallen angel Yohane will assist you."

"Really? Thank you, Yohane-chan!"

[-x-x-x-]

"By the way," Fumiko, Mika, Hanamaru and Seira raised their head to look at Hideko. The five of them were busy painting their assigned tank after being done with cleaning the inside. "Isn't the Type 97 a little weak compared to the other tanks?"

The purplenette thought about it for an instant. "Well… Compared to the other tanks our club has, its barrel is kind of small. Hence, our firepower is weaker."

"But at least, it's better than the Type 89 and the Rennault B1 bis." The girl whose hair was attached in pigtails said with a smile. "Also, the Type 97 is well-appreciated by Chi-Ha-Tan."

"Now that you are saying it…" The other brunette of the group placed a finger on her chin. "Isn't commander Nishi's tank a type 97 zura?"

The last member of their group nodded. "Since the Type 89 was more used to support infantry, it kind of suck against more powerful tanks. However, the Type 97 is a little more powerful but slower version of that."

"So, our trump card is our speed zura?"

Seira had mixed thoughts. "Well… I think the term freelancer of 'jack of all stats' suits us more since we don't have any visible strength nor weakness."

"Oh!"

"Though…" Hedeko turned back to the medium-sized tank in front of them. "It doesn't have that much of an armor."

The four others just nodded.

At the other side of the field, the two last groups who were taking care of the Matilda II and the Tiger I were taking a small break. Ria and Yukiho were sharing their knowledge about driving while Umi was giving the other gunner few tips about the art of aiming.

Honoka and her gray-haired girlfriend were just fanning each others though. "Man… This sure is tough."

Kotori chuckled. "But after this, when our tanks will be operable, we will finally be able to take part in the tournament and save our school."

There was a brief moment of pause until the ginger shook her head and abruptly stood up, patting her blue pants and orange T-shirt. "Yeah! That's right! We are going to give our best. Fight da yo!"

The other were all taken aback but quickly nodded and smiled, agreeing with their oblivious leader. Honoka was always someone who preferred act over words and despite not that talented at that much things, is wise enough to use her abilities to lead and clear any problem that got in front of her. Her beloved girlfriend usually played the role of the one who supports her the most and to cheer the gingerhead whenever she is feeling down and to allow Honoka to regain confidence and will lead everyone else.

The young second-year schoolgirl was kind of the otaku type since she enjoyed manga and video games. Being childhood friend with Eri was the reason she has started playing tank games and other strategy-base other one. The two of them were rather good at strategy-building, the blonde being more of the brain while Honoka was always able to find a good plan that will benefit their tropes.

Tsubasa on the other hand has practiced Sensha-do since middle school and was among the MVP commander from where she came from. Because of things though, she, among her two best friends, has enrolled at Otonokizaka. However, the reason of that sudden transfer was unknown by everyone but the student council that was keeping it secret from everyone else.

The last best leader of their club was Seira who had enough determination to lead a small group. Alongside her sister, the two of them were fans of idols and tanks since middle school and has dreamed about taking part in a Sensha-do club. They then started to train by themselves by playing games and occasionally doing physical training while waiting for the day. However, they were deceived after learning that Otonokizaka didn't have a Sensha-do club. It didn't take long for the closure to get announced though and the two of them were more than eager to join.

"By the way," Honoka spoke again after letting go of a yawn. She smiled at her teammates. "Please do not push yourselves too hard. It's nice to win but a victory is not a victory if the casualties are too important."

"Honoka…"

"Honoka-chan…"

"Honoka-senpai…"

"Onee-chan…"

There was a brief moment until everyone smiled. "Yes, ma'am!" Kokoa and Kokoro saluted, earning few chuckles from Arisa and Yukiho.

Eri smiled as she saw that and decided to walk over to the small group. She then cleared her throat. "I am sorry to cut you short but I have an announcement." Everyone turned their attention to the blonde, including the other groups who were already done painting their tanks. "It might be a little sudden but we have organized a friendly match for next week as to test our skills and maybe help us improve."

"It's as the saying," Nozomi added as she appeared from behind her girlfriend. " _Practice makes perfect_ but _the best way to improve is by trying._ "

"Really?" Few of the girls sighed while other whimpered, lacking confidence. "Isn't it a little too early?"

Honoka thought an instant before climbing atop the Tiger I. "Listen up, everyone!" And everyone turned to her. "We might still be inexperienced but it's as Nozomi-chan said. The best way to improve is to try right away. We might fail at first but with guts and courage, nothing will be impossible."

"I totally agree with Honoka-chan!" Chika added as she stepped forward. "Think about Oharai! They started as a no-name team but ended up winning the tournament. They won against Saunders, Pravda and even Kuromorimine!"

The other ginger nodded. "See! No matter what, we must never give up!"

Niko and Maki smiled at these words. They have remembered how Honoka has helped them start admitting their relationship with each others. Everyone else too regained confidence from their leader's word as they all remembered how the ginger has in one way or another helped them.

"All right! I'm in!"

"Count me in too!"

"We're not going to lose!"

Honoka smiled and turned to her blonde childhood friend who nodded. "Our opponent will be the Sensha-do club of Lillian school for noblewomen."

"Lillian?" Few girls raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the prestigious high school from Tokyo?"

"Yes! I have managed to meet up with Ogasawara Sachiko-san and they have agreed to a friendly match against us."

"Annihilation, I suppose?" Tsubasa asked.

Eri nodded, earning few confused look from the students. "There are three types of match type in Sensha-do. First off, annihilation; the objective is to immobilize all the enemies' tanks. Secondly, battle lord; as to win, we have to take down the enemy's flag tank. And finally, there are special match only done by professionals where you need to clear a certain condition as to win, like stealing the enemy's flag/queen and securing it at your hideout."

"Seems complex nya…"

"I agree zura…"

The blonde just smiled at the confused students. "For now, let us call it a day. Everyone is already done painting their tanks so feel free to go home and rest. Tomorrow, training will start at 06:00 AM."

"Yes, ma'am!"

After everyone saluted, bowed and started walking their direction, the girls of the Tiger and the Matilda quickly finished the painting of their turret and walked over to the student council room. Dia, Ruby, Eri and Nozomi were still busy with the paperwork and Honoka happily stepped in.

"Eri-chan~ Let's play a game."

The blonde smiled at her friend. "Sorry Honoka but I'm a little busy. Why don't you go home and rest a little instead."

The ginger pouted and was about to reply back if it wasn't for Umi who stepped in and dragged their leader out. "Sorry for the intrusion. We just came in to deposit this." She said before handing a document to the older Kurosawa girl. "Here is the additional information that you have requested about the Matilda II and the Tiger I."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Kokoro added as their group left the room, leaving four girls to themselves with the remaining job.

Ruby was the one who broke the silence with a smile. "They are all doing their best."

Her sister nodded before walking beside her and patted her head. "How about we eat something on our way home?" The red-head just nodded.

Nozomi and Eri smiled at the heartwarming spectacle before getting their noses back on the pile of paper.

[-x-x-x-]

"Today, we will have our first real-time training!" Eri announced loudly as she stood atop the IS-2. The girl members of the Sensha-do club were at the field near the hangar and were all clad in their tracksuits, ready for practice while the blonde has finally decided to take their training to the next level. "We will have a friendly match between each others, a free-for-all where your objective is to immobilize all your rivals."

Everyone nodded, their spirit high as they got the opportunity to evacuate the stress from a long day at school. "So, we finally get the chance to shoot at the others?" Niko pointed out, earning an awkward smile from her brunette teammate.

"I don't think that's quite the right expression, Niko-chan…"

"Then, let's drift to our heart's content nya!" The ginger beside her cheered. "I can't wait to try the tips Ruby-chan taught Rin yesterday."

Eri cleared her throat and everyone once again turned to her. "For today, you will be all rivals. Do your best, give your all and might the best of us win!"

Tsubasa and Seira grinned at the words. It was finally the time to test their abilities and to try out their new tanks.

"Then," the blonde closed her eyes for an instant as everyone else got inside their tanks after being handed over a map each by the student council vice president. "All tanks advance!"

"Panzer vor!"

"En avant la compagnie!"

[-x-x-x-]

The Type 97 was slowly advancing toward their checkpoint, the area from where they will be departing. It was in the middle of the forest and Mika was having difficulties with the map. "It's kind of weird over here…"

"Let me see…" The commander leaned down toward the radio operator as to look at said map. "We are currently here and these are the supposed starting point of our rivals. For now, let us take advantage of the terrain and only attack them, using our speed as an advantage."

Hanamaru slowly nodded as she slowly made the tank stop. "I think it's here zura." She let go of a quiet sigh, relieved that she was able to drive that metal monster this far. "Countryside roads are harder zura."

"But most of our upcoming match will be far from town though. So, we'll have to drive in area such as this…" The gunner pointed out.

The brunette sighed, earning an apologetic smile from Seira and the loader of the team.

At the other side of the forest, Yukiho has managed to drive the Matilda II to their assigned position. She let go of a sigh before turning toward the radio operator who was seated at her left. "This sure is hard."

Kokoro gave a soft smile. "Do your best, Yukiho-san… It might be hard to switch between which tracks to activate at first but with training, maybe you will be able to reach Reizei-san's skill."

"Reizei-san?" The blonde of their team peeked from the gunner's seat and smiled at the ravenette. "Isn't she actually the driver of Oharai's Panzer IV?"

Kokoa nodded. "She is a living legend. Both talented in studies and tankery, I heard she can even do better than few professionals."

"Oh!" The red-head gave a tilt of the head. "I didn't know that… but I guess that's another thing to learn about."

" _Attention all!"_ Nozomi's voice echoed from the large radio device by Kokoro's side and the three others stopped their discussion to listen. _"We have all reached our assigned checkpoint so the match might start anytime. However, it is very well known that every Sensha-do match starts and ends with a bow."_

Everyone nodded and attempted to bow forward. "Let us have a nice match!"

" _Then now, good luck everyone!"_ And that was the last sentence before everyone nodded at their teammates and started driving.

The JagdTiger that was assigned at a clearer has started it engine and was now being driven toward the west after their commander Chika has decided. Yô has already managed to get how to drive properly after hours of training and had near no difficulty having the monster crossing all kind of terrain.

"The nearest team is the IS-2." Mari said as she had a look at the map before turning toward their commander. "What should we do?"

The ginger thought an instant before giving her opinion. "Since they have enough armor and firepower to rival us but have more mobility, let us ignore them for now and go after the weaker one like the Type 97 or the Crusader. Let us take the student council last."

"Roger that!" Her gray-haired girlfriend saluted as she pushed the gear shift as to allow the tank to move to the left.

"The Crusader should be around here." The blonde indicated by pointing at the upper right of the map.

Chika nodded as she sat back on her seat. The inside of the JagdTiger was neither that large but not that small either. It was enough to fit the five of them without that much problem, with the driver at the front, the gunner and loader behind her and the two remaining members near the main hatch and the peeking holes.

"Yô-chan, please turn left at the next intersection. We will be taking them forward." The ginger said after thinking for a good minute. "Their tank might be very fast but one hit should be enough." She then turned to the gunner. "Riko-chan…"

The red-head nodded. "I will do my best."

Chika nodded before eying at the loader. "Kanan-chan…"

"Count on me!" The JagdTiger's shell were rather heavy but the diver girl was stronger compared to everyone else so it wasn't a problem for her.

Meanwhile, the Crusader was crossing a bridge, with Rin stressing out a lot, unable to keep the tank stable. "Aww…"

"Do your best, Rin-chan!" Her childhood friend cheered while Maki and Niko were mentally praying that the ginger would manage to get them at the other side.

It took them a good minute but their finally arrived at the destination. The lovers let go of a sigh before smiling at their younger friend. "You've improved, Rin…"

"But it's still far from perfection." The ravenette commented, earning a smack of the head from her radio operator girlfriend. "What was that for?"

Maki didn't reply and just played with the tip of her hair as she grabbed the map, trying to ignore the angry third year looking at her. "We should still be fine. Let us just try to avoid open area and uses flee as our main strategy. The others could easily take us down so…"

The three others nodded as they returned back into their seat. With the driver and the radio operator at the front, Niko and Hanayo were looking through the scope and the peeking holes. "There are few bushes at the right. Maybe we could ambush from there." The brunette proposed.

"But the Crusader's cannon is not powerful enough. We surely will be done for if the passer-by happens to be the IS-2 or the JagdTiger since our main armament is not powerful enough to break their defence."

The chubby girl nodded before looking once again. "Also, the forest at the right seems dense enough. Though, the Crusader is not that good at countryside areas."

Maki thought an instant before having another look at the map. "For now, let us enter the forest and try to avoid hostilities as much as possible."

Rin nodded before looking through the small peeking hole in front of her and pushed the gear, allowing the machine to move forward. Once they entered the forest, it was now harder to see what was in front of them. "It's so hard to see nya. This hole is just too small."

"Well… Since most tanks need to have a tough frontal armor, it is only normal to have the least opening as possible, for both the driver and the crew's security." Hanayo explained. "Do your best, Rin-chan. You can do it!"

And they continued for a while until a shoot could be heard. The driver quickly pushed the brake per Maki's orders and the later asked the gunner to get ready. "Did we get found out?"

There was a moment of silence until another shot could be heard, landing few feet in front of the Crusader. "It's the JagdTiger! They found us." The brunette loader said in a panicked voice.

The commander gulped before placing a hand on Rin's trembling shoulder. "For now, let us get out of here. They are slower so we'll be able to escape."

The ginger nodded before driving the tank to the left, the opposite direction from where the massive tank was turned to them. Chika saw that and turned to the radio operator. "They're trying to flee. Let's chase after them!"

"Roger yousoro!"

The JagdTiger started to move once again in the dense forest, occasionally shooting forward in the direction of the fleeing Crusader. Yô was doing her best to keep the monster from getting off road while Kanan restlessly took a shell from the storage and pushed them in the cannon load. Riko aimed by turning the levier and attempted another shot that hit the tree near where the rival tank was.

"Another miss…"

"Do not give up!" The ginger said. "A battle is never won with only one shell! Try again until we hit them."

"Roger!"

"Woaaa!" Inside the smaller tank though, Hanayo was screaming as another shell came crashing at the ground near them, their own tank trying to cross the dangerously hard road at full speed. "Maki-chan, what shall we do?"

The red-head thought for a while before looking at the map. "Rin, turn right! There's a clearer and another bridge. We'll cross it and will find an easier plain path." The ginger nodded as she pushed another gear, making the tank turn right and as the commander has said, there was indeed a bridge.

The driver took a deep breath as she pushed the gas and allowed the Crusader to move past the bridge at full speed. "I did it nya!"

Maki smiled before looking at the gunner from her shoulder. "Niko-chan, Hanayo! Please rotate the turret. We'll aim at their track as to slow them down."

"I heard you, mate!" The ravenette grinned as she held the command and moved it as to allow the turret to rotate. "Hanayo!"

"Aye!" The brunette grabbed a shell and loaded it. "Ready!"

The light tank was still moving forward in the plain area, the JagdTiger not far from behind them. Maki stood up and had a look at the rear peeking hole an instant. "Niko-chan."

"Ready as well!" The shorter girl said as she was done adjusting the aim.

"Open fire!"

As soon as these words escaped the red-head's mouth, the gunner shoot and the shell were repulsed out of the barrel at an imaginable speed, hiding the hard frontal armor of the JagdTiger. "Not even a scratch…"

"Once again." The red-head said as Hanayo grabbed another shell and loaded it. "Fire!"

Niko did as she was told to and this time managed to hit at the same spot that earlier, leaving a couple of scratch. "It's no use! We won't be able to pierce their frontal armor."

"In that case," Maki turned to the driver. "Rin, reduce our speed so we could go to their left. They have a fixed barrel so they won't be able to aim us from the side."

"Say whaaaaat?"

"Rin! I am the commander! Listen to my order!"

The ginger gulped hard at these words as her childhood friend wanted to step in but Niko stopped her. Rin closed her eyes an instant before pressing the brake and quickly made few maneuvers so the Crusader was moving at the same speed as the JagdTiger at it's left. "Yay! I did it nya!"

Meanwhile, Chika was taken aback by the sudden maneuvers. "What?" She quickly turned to the gunner. "Riko-chan, Yô-chan!"

The gray-haired girl quickly pressed the brake but it was too late as a shot from the smaller tank hit their left track breaking it. A white flag appeared atop the JagdTiger as what remained of its broken track was sent few meter away. "We can't move anymore…"

" _Team 3's JagdTiger has been immobilized!"_ Nozomi's voice echoed from the radio.

"Heiiiin?!" The gingerhead made a face as she heard that. "We were the first immobilized?"

"Well…" The radio operator smiled at her. "It's a training match so even broken tracks will get us out. However, during official matches, we are still allowed to repair them."

"Oh! I see…" Chika replied as she regained her composure. "So, basically, we are not supposed to be defeated yet if it was an official match." The blonde nodded. "But we still lost the training match though." Mari nodded again.

Meanwhile, the four girls inside the Crusader were cheering. "Yay! We did it! We broke the JagdTiger's track!" Niko said proudly.

However, their celebration was short-lived as a shell hit their left at full force, knocking their tank few feet away after rolling several times. A white flag appeared atop the now smoking Crusader. "What was that?" The commander asked. "A sniper?" She then turned to everyone who was now in all kind of position inside the knocked tank. "Are you all right?"

Hanayo and Rin nodded while Niko started screaming. "Who the hell did that? I swear I'm going to find them and make them pay." Maki just sweatdropped.

Meanwhile, from atop a hill, steam was still escaping from the Sherman Firefly's main cannon. The red-head gunner smirked as she looked through the scope. "Bullseye!"

"As expected of Erena-chan!" The ginger complimented.

Yoshiko on the other hand was having her mouth agape like a deadfish, her brain trying to process to the fact that her teammate has managed to take down a moving tank at a distance of two kilometers away. "Wow… So, that's a sniper for you…"

Tsubasa nodded before looking once again at the map. "All right! Next up, let us find the Type 97."

Anju nodded as she pushed the gear and allowed the Firefly to move into the next area.

" _Team 2's Crusader has been immobilized!"_

[-x-x-x-]

 **So, here is the class assignment I promised:**

1st year — Maki, Rin, Hanayo, Ruby, Yoshiko ("It's Yohane!"), Hanamaru, Ria, Yukiho, Arisa, Kokoro, Kokoa and Kotaro

2nd year — Honoka, Umi, Kotori, Hideko, Fumiko, Mika, Chika, Yô and Riko

3rd year — Eri, Nozomi, Niko, Seira, Tsubasa, Erena, Anju, Mari, Kanan and Dia

 **Also, here is a list of the pairing just in case:**

Honoka/Kotori

Niko/Maki

Nozomi/Eri

Fumiko/Mika

Mari/Kanan

Yô/Chika

Anju/Erena

 **And the pairing I would like to introduce but am not still confident yet for now:**

Ruby/Ria

Yukiho/Arisa

Riko/Yoshiko

Tsubasa/Seira


	3. Friendly rivalry

" _Team 2's Crusader has been immobilized!"_ Nozomi's voice echoed from the radio.

The four girls inside the Matilda II couldn't help but to get astonished after hearing that. They have heard some loud explosion not far from their current spot but didn't expect that someone would already be knocked out.

"Did you hear that?" Panic could be heard on the blonde's voice.

"Hell yeah!" Kokoa however, had a grin on her face. She was now excited to enter a battle as well. After hearing how loud the explosion seemed, she also wanted to try seeing the Matilda in action. "How about we try to shoot as well?" The brunette turned to her sister who was seated on the gunner's place.

"But we can't just shoot like that without any reason…"

"But don't you want to try it?"

Kokoro thought an instant before turning to the other two members of their team. Arisa was holding a map in her hands and just waved a smile while the red-head was their driver. She was looking at everyone from over her shoulders. "Well… it's just a training match as to help us get used to tank battle so why not?"

"Yay!" The energetic brunette cheered as she grabbed a shell and loaded it in the main cannon. "Loading complete!"

Their cream-colored tank was at the garden of a ruined and abandoned small building. They haven't crossed path with anyone else and knowing that both the Crusader and the Jagdtiger were out, it won't take long before someone would target them.

"All right!" Kokoro leaned closer to the device and watched through the scope, aiming for an old straw doll that was standing not far from there. "Arisa-san, could you please give me the distance?"

Said blonde watched the scope placed near the radio and started to calculate. "200 miles."

The ravenette nodded before pressing the trigger. The bullet was instantly shoot and flew until landing at one meter in front of its target. Meanwhile, the recoil could have been felt from inside the vehicle and the crew members couldn't help but to awe at the feeling.

"It kind of…" Yukiho started.

Kokoa, however, had a very huge grin on her face. "It was so noisy and powerful! With a tank like this, we could take out a whole division of Renault B1 by ourselves."

Her sister sweatdropped. "Please stop exaggerating, sis. The Matilda might be a good tank but it has its limit. Plus, its strength lies more in the armor since it is mostly used as a support vehicle."

"And we missed an unmoving target." Yukiho added, bringing Kokoa back on earth.

Said brunette just waved a smile. "Well… Dreaming won't cost us anything, won't it?"

The three others chuckled. "Right?"

Just as they were about to talk about something else though, a bullet came roaming until it hit the ground beside the Matilda, alerting its crew members. Arisa quickly watched through the scope to see a Japanese tank driving in their direction. "It's the Type 97 Shinhoto team! They are after us!"

Yukiho nodded as she started maneuvering the driving commands. Fortunately, most British and Japanese tanks had the drivers at the right so the red-head's driving experience could have been of more help. If they were assigned to French or German tanks whose driver was seated at the left, things would have been difficult though.

The Matilda started going to the direction of the east as their assaulter was coming from the south. Seeing that their target was starting to flee, Seira opened the hatch and placed the small microphone device the student council members have given them beforehand. She attached it on her neck and tested it before climbing up until her upper body was outside, allowing her to command freely their tanks. "They are attempting to flee! Let us head to the North and ambush them near the cliff at 2000 meters from here." She said in the microphone.

The four girls inside the Type 97 nodded and Hanamaru followed the orders by speeding up but instead of going directly after the fleeing Matilda, had their tanks driving in an abandoned field of dying crops. Mika was sitting on the seat at her left and was helping the driver as much as she could since there was also a scope in front of the radio operator. "Beware of the huge rock at 10 hours!"

"Roger zura!" The brunette moved the gear so that the tank would go right and avoid the obstacle before moving back forward.

"Their tank is slower than ours so we should be able to reach that plan first." The commander spoke with a calm voice as she kept sign of their target. A pair of goggle was in her hands and she occasionally watched through them. "They are trying to flee to the South. Please load and shoot as to force them to continue to the East."

"Roger!" Hideko nodded before grabbing another shell and loaded it. The previously empty shell was placed at the backward area of the tank as to sort them out from the still unused ones. "Loading complete!"

Fumiko nodded as she watched through the scope and waited for the commander to give the order. Said purplenette watched through the goggle once again and spoke into the microphone. "Distance: 500 miles. Ready aim!" She paused an instant as to allow the gunner to process before giving her next order. "Fire!"

The brunette did as she was ordered and pressed the trigger, allowing the Type 97's bullet to hit the Matilda's side, forcing it to go back to its previous trajectory. The hit was enough to leave black marks on the heavier tank's armor but wasn't enough to damage it.

"We need to get at least 100 meters closer if we want to take them down!"

"Sure zura!"

And then, the pursuit continued until the Japanese tank arrived at the cliff. They started to climb the mount and started aiming from atop it. The British vehicle was down bellow, not far and was in the Type 97's killing zone.

"Please stop the tank!" Kokoro said as she saw their enemies now atop the hill. Yukiho followed her order and had their vehicle into a halt before having it face their assaulter. "We won't be able to win against them question speed but we have more offensive and defensive."

"But their commander is more experienced."

"But the other members are beginners like us." Kokoa countered as she loaded another shell.

The ravenette aimed and so did Fumiko from the other tank. Seira got inside the Type 97 and watched through the scope before placing a hand on the gunner's shoulder. "Just stay calm and you should be able to do it. We have the advantage of altitude so our accuracy and evasion are higher."

Fumiko nodded as she focused on aiming. Her friend was done loading and both the Matilda and the Japanese tank were in halt, waiting for the order to open fire. Then, it came.

"Fire!" Seira and Alisa shouted at the same time and Fumiko and Kokoro did as they were told. Both shells roamed the empty space, almost crossing each others, before reaching its target. The Matilda took a direct hit and its white flag appeared atop its turret but the Type 97 was lucky that the incoming shell hit the tree behind them. The middle-sized tank's commander sighed before smiling at everyone else inside the tank. "You have all done a very good job!" She then bowed her head. "Thank you for following my directive!"

The four other girls smiled as they returned the bow. "It's because you are an awesome commander that we were able to make it this far."

[-x-x-x-]

"The Matilda II team has been knocked out!"

Eri and Nozomi were seated atop the Stalin's turret, a microphone in the purplenette's hands to help her letting everyone knows about the current situation. The blonde smiled as she watched the horizon. "They are all doing their best!" In her hands was a smartphone that had the list of still moving tanks on. Everyone in their club was given the application to keep on knowing how many tanks were still left on the battlefield.

Ruby peeked her head from the turret's hatch while her sister did the same from the small hatch at the left side in the front, from the driver's seat. "I didn't expect less from our juniors."

"They are doing their rubesty!"

The blonde nodded as her lips formed a smile. "Maybe we should join them at least."

The ravenette smiled back. "Won't that be a little unfair?"

"We let them start in advance. I think that is the most unfair one."

Eri and Nozomi jumped back inside the IS-2 after the red-head took her seat at the gunner's position. The blonde placed a hand on Dia's shoulder and the later powered the engine before driving it in the direction of the nearest team.

[-x-x-x-]

"Another team is down." Anju turned to the other crew members of the Sherman Firefly. They were driving at some abandoned rocky area, hiking as Tsubasa has proposed a plan where they should snipe their opponent after finding a high-altitude area. "Gee… This road is kind of hard." She muttered under her breath while pressing the gas and released it before changing the gear.

Yoshiko however, was just busy watching from the scope designated for the radio operator since their commander was in the open, the upper part of her body out of the hatch and watching the surrounding. "We have to take the Tiger team first since they could be a real threat."

"By hearing you I conclude you already saw them in action, don't you?" The bluenette questioned.

"Well… Let's say I've been a fan of Honoka-san and Eri-san. Their way of tankery is different from the discipline of the other schools. I have seen a video about a friendly spare of them and it was fascinating."

Yoshiko nodded. "But no matter how good the commander could be, it is useless if the other crew members are all amateurs."

"That's where you are mistaken, Yoshiko-san." Erena corrected her. "If capable enough, they should be able to push their companions forward. Have you already heard of Nonna and Clara from Pravda?"

"Kind of…"

"They are very bright commanders and figures among the best gunners in high school tankery but their teammates are just average. However, because of their leading abilities, they are able to reach the top."

"Wow! I didn't know that." Yoshiko sighed before realizing something. "Also, it's Yohane!" She insisted, earning a chuckle from the driver.

"All right, Yohane-chan!"

Not long after though, an explosion occurred not far from where they were and a shell fell just next to the Firefly. Tsubasa quickly watched in her left to see the IS-2 at a distance of 3000 meters from their position. "It's the IS-2!" She said before getting back inside their tank. "Let's forget this plan! Anju; drive us out of this area."

The ginger just nodded as she pressed the gas and drove the Sherman into a grassy area. "Getting hit at this distance won't be deadly but if they get any closer, we would be knocked out."

"Then, why don't we just shoot them first?" The youngest girl proposed. "Our tank has an effective range of 3000 meters as I remember right?"

"That's true but we can't hope to hit them while moving at the same time. If we stop though, that will give them the opportunity to get an unmoving target."

"But their gunner is Ruby! Are you saying she will hit us if we half for a couple of second?"

"Never underestimate your enemies!" Erena corrected their junior before rotating the turret. "Let us just shoot some round. Hopefully, that will slow them down and allow us to find a sniping spot to get them."

Yoshiko sighed before nodding and loaded another shell. Tsubasa poked her head out of the hatch and took the microphone in her hand. "Open fire!"

The red-head followed by pressing the trigger. The shell missed however and the IS-2 still went in their direction, faster than before. Eri placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder after loading a shell. "Anytime you want, Ruby."

The red-head nodded before watching through the scope. Nozomi did the same and gave the distance. "2500 miles, 10°"

After adjusting the objective, the petite girl pressed the trigger, allowing the 122 mm cannon to shoot a large destructive bullet that flew until crashing by the Firefly's right, barely missing. Eli smiled before loading another shell. The 122 mm one was very heavy but the blonde has been training a lot since middle school so she able to execute her duty with that much problem. "Don't mind! This time, aim for their turret."

Ruby nodded as she aimed another time. Just as she watched through the scope though, the vehicle moved at the left as to avoid an upcoming bullet from the Sheram's 76 mm 17-pounder cannon. The petite girl almost lance balance but Dia quickly made some maneuver and the IS was back on its straight path. "Ruby, are you okay?"

Said girl nodded as she took aim once again and shoot but missed. The same went for their opponent who countered, only to miss. Meanwhile, Yoshiko was starting to get tired of lifting these heavy shells. She was already starting to sweat but still had to load another one. "Woaa! These shells of the dark doom are just so heavy. As I thought, this temporal body of mine won't last long."

"Please make with it." Erena said with a calm voice before attempting another shot. "They are getting closer. That Kurosawa Dia sure is a redoubtable driver."

"I heard that the Kurosawa sisters have been training in tankery since middle school." Tsubasa explained. "They went to the same school as Honoka-san and Eri-san and that was when they have started."

Anju sighed. "I wish we had more horsepower. Our engine is already starting to heat up." She eyed at the several twitching lights on the driver's board but pressed the gas anyway.

Just as Yoshiko was ready to load another round though, a loud explosion occurred, followed by violent rocking inside the Firefly. "What was that?" The brunette lost her calm as she peeked through the hatch to see the Tiger half-hidden in a nearby forest, its barrel turned in their direction. "It's the Tiger I!"

"I have bad news!" This time was the ginger that lost her calm. "Our left track broke!"

"What?"

With their tracks broken and two other tanks surrounding them, defeat was no far behind as both the German and the Soviet tank did shoot at the same time, both hitting its target. The Sherman's white flag popped from atop its turret and Tsubasa sighed. "They held an ambush… I guess we couldn't do anything against that."

"But would you mind moving now?" Yoshiko cried from underneath her. The shock from the impact of earlier has made the brunette to lose her balance until falling atop the junior, who has cushioned her fall.

"Sorry sorry!"

Meanwhile, the Tiger I came out of its hiding spot, Honoka standing on its turret. Eri smiled and mimicked her friend's action. "So, we meet again in the battlefield."

The ginger smiled back. "That was a while since we last had a face off. I want to try the new technique Umi-chan, Kotori-chan, Ria-chan and I have readied."

"You will be served!" The blonde gave another smiled before going back inside the tank. Honoka on the other hand, just stayed there so she will be able to have a constant eye on the surrounding and give accurate directive. Eli loaded a shell and turned to Dia who was waiting for her directive. "Charge from the front and then drift to the left while Ruby rotates the turret to the right! Only shoot when I say it."

The Kurosawa sisters nodded and the tank moved forward, its turret turning. The Tiger on the other hand, remained in position as Honoka gave her directive. "At my signal, make a full reverse, Ria-chan while Umi-chan should aim for their track." Both girls nodded and watched as the Soviet tank approached before drifting to the side. "Now!"

The German tank quickly backed and shoots, only to hit the side armor and ricocheting into another direction. The IS-2 also opened fire but missed since their target has moved. The commander quickly loaded another shell. "Go to their left and attempt another shoot by aiming for their track!"

"Now, advance full speed ahead and drift to make a complete 360°. We will get them with a surprise return."

Kotori nodded as she loaded another 88 mm shell. "Ready!" The shell was very heavy and for someone who wasn't very used to tankery, she was already starting to sweat.

Honoka, noticing that, went back inside the tank as Ria followed the directive. "Kotori-chan, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah…"

The ginger gave a small smile before moving closer. "I will do the loading so could be our overwatcher?"

"I-I can still do it."

"Kotori… Just let Honoka do it." The bluenette said in a soft voice and the shorter girl sighed before nodding.

"All right then." She walked to the radio operator's seat and watched through several scopes placed there. "Position at 11 hours!"

"Umi-chan, just shoot blindly to confuse them!" The commander ordered and the archer followed, allowing their bullet to completely miss before the ginger loaded another round. "One more time!"

The Tiger I did shoot another time and did hit the ground in front of the IS. Said Soviet tank countered but missed since their opponent was going in their direction at full speed.

"Ria-chan, collide against them from the front and hold against them as much as possible!" Honoka ordered once again after loading another shell. "Umi-chan, rotate our turret to an angle or 30° to the left! When I will give the signal, we will back away and advance at their left."

Both girls nodded and followed the directive, allowing the Tiger to hit their opponent at full force. The impact made the drivers of both vehicles to slightly cringe. "They are very aggressive!"

Eri loaded another shell. "Hold tight against them! If we back away, that will give them the time to shoot at us and a hit at this close range distance is a sure kill." She then turned to the gunner. "Ruby, do not shoot if you are not sure at 100% to hit because our loading speed is more important. The time it will take to load another shell, they will already back away and have us in their mercy."

The Kurosawa sisters nodded. Inside the other tank though, the engine was slowly starting to make the air hot. "The engine is…" The young driver stated.

Honoka nodded. "We need to fish this as fast as possible." She then turned to the purplenette. "Ria-chan, push as hard as you can! We will knock them back and shoot as fast as possible. The outcome of this skirmish will lay in reloading speed and we have such advantage. Don't allow them to back too far away."

Umi and their junior nodded as the petite girl pressed the gas to its max power, making the Tiger to push the Stalin. Eri was a little taken aback by her friend-rival's action but quickly gave the next order. "Got our some distance and aim for their front. We can pierce their armor without any problem at this distance even though they are faster than us."

Ruby nodded as she started to aim and did shoot and so did the German tank. Both bullets missed at the side and the two tanks collided once again before the Tiger backed and shoot another round. It was a hell of a racing for Honoka and Eri who loaded a shell after another. The blonde despite her superior body strength was slower because the Stalin's ammo was heavier than the German tank's.

"We need to settle this after the next shoot!"

Ruby nodded as Dia drove the tank and slammed it aggressively against their opponent. The next exchange both missed but the two rival loaders loaded one last time and both tanks did shoot at the same time. Two explosions occurred as the vehicles were covered in smoke.

As the steam slowly disappeared, a white flag appeared atop the IS-2's turret. Eri sighed. _'I lost again…?'_

The other team's victory didn't last long though as a bullet came crashing into its rear, provoking an explosion and making their white flag raise as well. The Type 97 slowly appeared from behind the trees, Seira out of the hatch and had a smile on her face. The four other members of the Japanese tank team were awing as they took down the last opposing force.

Nozomi smiled as she grabbed the microphone. _"Team IS-2 and Tiger I has been immobilized. The Team Type 97 Shinhoto is victorious!"_

[-x-x-x-]

Eri smiled as she walked in front of everyone else. The girls member of the Sensha-do team have already drove their tanks back to the training field in front of the hangar and were now gathered to hear the last announcement of the day. "Congratulation for today! You all have potential. I am so glad we have revived Otonokizaka's Sensha-do club."

"Special mention to the Type 97 team for their victory." Nozomi added, earning five big smiles.

"Yeah! They were so cool!" Kokoa added. "Sensha-do is so fun! I'm glad we joined, sis." She turned to her twin who just gave a smile.

Honoka, on the other hand, hugged Seira from behind. "You did very well, Seira-chan!" She then turned her smile to the four others. "Mika-chan, Hidako-chan, Fumiko-chan and Hanamaru-chan too did very great job!"

The purplenette returned a smile, not even bothering to struggle the ginger off her. "We are still far from perfection though."

"I think that Onee-sama did her best and that's all that matters." Ria insisted.

"Onee-chan was awesome too." Ruby followed, making the other twintailed girl to turn to her and the two of them started arguing about whose sister was the best.

Dia and Seira smiled. "That's so my sister for you. Ruby/Ria is so cute~"

Yukiho sweatdropped. "We have siscons in our team…" She then sighed before walking over to her own sister. "Come on, Hono-Nee. Stop bothering Seira-san."

Eri finally decided to clear her throat and everyone turned their attention to her. "Also, since we are here, I have an announcement to make." She paused for a couple of second. "We have arranged a friendly spare with another school."

"Really?"

"That sounds so fun!"

"What school is it?"

"Are we really ready for something like that?"

The vice-president smiled as she walked beside her girlfriend. "The Sensha-do team of Lillian Jo-Gakuin has accepted our request and the match will take place next Saturday at 07:00 AM."

"Lillian Jo-Gakuen?"

"Isn't that the school for young Ladies from Tokyo?"

"I heard they are specialized in French, Japanese and British tanks. Rumors say they have ten AMC 35, one AMX-50, one Challenger, five Cromwell, one FCM F1, seven Somua S-3, two Mathilda, one Churchill and five Renault B1." Hanayo said with enthusiasm.

"Eeeh?" Her ginger friend looked at her and then at Eri with horror. "How are we supposed to even think about winning against them?"

Maki sighed. "Don't be absurd, Rin! In a friendly match, both teams are to have the same number of tanks. Since we have seven ones, they mostly will only deploy seven of theirs."

"Oh."

Niko crossed her arms. "But they are still powerful anyway. I heard they have already won once against Saint Gloriana."

"What?" This time was Chika who turned to her. "But I heard even Oharai hasn't even once against Saint Gloriana."

Riko nodded as she placed a finger on her chin. "But lot of theories has been going on. The most popular one is that Miho-san has let Darjeeling-san win because of a certain reason."

"Like what kind of reason?" Kanan asked as she rested her arms behind her head.

"Like what Miho-san and Darjeeling-san has a secret love affair with each others!" Ruby was the one who relied.

"Zura!"

"I have also heard about that." Kotori continued. "But the sources are still very foggy and we don't even know if it's true."

Honoka just chuckled. "I think that the fans are just making fantasies as usual."

"So shameless…"

"Umi-chan…" The two other childhood friend sweatdropped as they watched the blue-haired archer starting to sulk at the other side of the field.

"Ahem!" Eri finally decided to bring back everyone's attention to her. "Anyway, we have to give them a match worth it. For the assignment, our forces will be divided into three divisions."

 **Division one: Freelancers**

"Honoka will be the CO and that division will mostly be for support of the other teams. The members are the Tiger I, the Sherman Firefly and the Matilda II."

 **Division two: First liners**

"I will lead that division and our missions are to take the enemies from the front. We will need heavily armored tanks, meaning the IS-2 and the Jagdtiger."

 **Division three: Decoy team**

"The captain of this division will be Seira-san and your mission will be, as the name indicate, to do decoy and recon missions. The Type 97 and the Crusader Mk-IV will be assigned to that team."

There was a brief moment of silence until Nozomi decided to conclude. "That will be all for today! Rest well tonight and be there tomorrow for another training session. We need to train about teamwork so we could be ready to face Lillian this week."

"Yes, ma'am!" The others saluted before walking back to the hangar to change and started going back home while the automobile team was starting to do the maintenance of the tanks.


	4. Lillian Jo-Gakuin

**A/N: I have decided to include two characters in addition to what I have planned since the beginning. Shiitake will be turned into a human girl about their age (as a very energetic one, a foil to Rin) and Kotarou who I did genderbent into a girl.**

[-x-x-x-]

The day of the friendly match has finally arrived. It was taking place in a plain area surrounded by forest at the east and mountains at the west and south. An abandoned and ruined town could be found at the north. It was a nice day, with the sun having just risen at the horizon and the girls member of Otonokizaka's tankery club were riding inside the transport vehicle their school owned. Said vehicles were mostly used by the athletic clubs such as the basketball or football ones but Eri has talked with a chairwoman and the woman has agreed to allow them to use these.

The ship was shored at the bay of Tokyo and the girls participants have the privilege of a personal transport. For everyone else, they were allowed to see the match thanks to large screens installed all around the district of Akiba so they gathered there.

The seven girls member of the automobile club have also accompanied the team as to help them check on the tanks and to help repair just in case. The trip lasted longer than expected so Honoka turned to the mechanics maniac. "So, are you sure you don't want to participate in this match, Shima-chan, Mito-chan?"

The ginger known as Takami Shima shook her head. "We are just happy by repairing tanks."

"Also, we don't have that many to begin." Her cousin, a brunette, continued as she smiled at the shorter girl who was standing in front of them. "Maybe we will join someday if you find more tanks for us to handle."

"Key word: maybe." The petite girl with short raven hair and crimson irises beside her commented with a calm and emotionless voice.

Honoka just gave a smile as she remembered Yazawa Kotaro was not very talkative. Said ravenette was the cousin of their fellow teammates, namely Niko, Kokoro and Kokoa. Apparently, Kotaro is suffering from attention deficit.

"But tanks are fun wan~" The other member of the automobile club, a taller girl with fluffy white hair and amber irises, smiled widely at the ginger as she walked back into her seat after having a 'talk' with Riko.

"Sure nya!" Rin also joined them before slightly backing away as the girl named Shiitake turned her attention to her and had a grin on her face. "Nya…" There was a second of pause before the whitette started running after the cat-like girl, wanting to cuddle with her. Rin teary-eyed-ly took cover behind her brunette friend. "Help Rin, Kayo-chin!"

Meanwhile, the dog-like girl was happily smiling, trying to get past Hanayo. "Rin-chaaan~ Come on, play with me wan~"

"Riko-chan!" The ginger cried as she called for the other red-head who was seated at the other side of the vehicle. "Please help nya!"

Said pianist sighed as Yô and Kanan just smiled at her. "Duty is calling for you."

"Go full speed ahead, yousoro!" The gray-haired girl saluted.

Riko let go of a defeated sigh as she stood up and took the energetic girl by the collar. "Come on, Shiitake-chan! Stop bothering Rin. She is like a cat so she is scared of people who spent their childhood surrounded by dog or taming them."

The whitette turned her attention to the pianist, her smile widening. Riko quickly regretted her decision as her face turned pale when Shiitake jumped at her and rubbed their cheeks together. "Yay! In the end, cuddling with Riko-chan is the best wan~"

Hanamaru and Ruby sighed while the chuunibyou girl made a dramatic pause. "That's little demon Lilith for you!" She said in a deep voice to add to the emotions.

Tsubasa sweatdropped. "Are you always like this?" She turned to Chika who was busy eating mikans. "I mean you are so full of energy and all."

The ginger took an instant of pause as she thought about an answer. "Well… Shima-Nee and Mito-Nee are always taking care of Shiitake like a baby while Riko-chan used to be scared of dogs. Since Shiitake tends to act like one from time to time, the two of them are closer to being vitriolic best friends." She said with an energetic tone before taking another bite from her fruit. "Delicious~"

Erena sighed before turning to Seira as to change the subject of conversation. "So, I heard you have already been practicing tankery since middle school, Kazuno-san?"

"You can call me Seira by the way." The purplenette replied with a polite tone. "But yes. Ria and I have been training back in Hokkaido with an old Type 89 that our mother's team has been using when she was in college."

The red-head nodded and was about to say something else but someone fell atop her from the chair behind. It was revealed to be Yoshimi who was accidentally pushed by Mari who was trying to imitate the explosion of a Nagato-class cruiser's main cannon.

"Oh my." The shorter girl quickly moved and bowed at the victim girl. "I am really sorry."

"No. It's nothing… really."

Just as Mutsu and Itsuki walked beside their mechanic buddy to check if she was unharmed, the vehicle slowly came into a stop and Honoka energetically exited it by jumping from the window. Both Umi and Ria yelled at her for being careless but before anyone could do anything, Chika too jumped out of the car and was followed by Kanan, Yô, Mari, Rin and Shiitake. The others just sighed before slowly processing to exit by the door.

"Woaa!" The three main ginger girls awed at the scenery. In front of them was a very large plain area where their match will be taking place. "I must be dreaming…"

Their tanks were already aligned at the side and at the other side were seven tanks—probably Lillian's. Eri smiled as she saw several girls drinking tea around a camping table and pliable chair, under a large parasol. They were clad in black-colored buttonless shirt and longer black shirt with necktie completing their uniform. Everyone recognized them as St Lillian's tankery club.

The blonde, followed by her girlfriend, Honoka and Seira approached the group while the other members walked in direction of their tanks. The girls from Otonokizaka—minus the members of the automobile club—were already in their tanks outfit. It was among the rule of Sensha-do to have a different uniform to use while being inside a war machine and Otonokizaka's was white shirt with dark blue skirts and a matching jacket.

"Woaa! It's kind of different from our usual sailor fuku outfits." The bread-loving ginger commented before getting a smile from her fortuneteller friend.

"I know, right?"

Soon, they arrived near the students of St Lillian and said girls interrupted their tea party to greet their guests. A tall girl with long wavy raven hair stood up straight. "Greetings!"

"Hi!" Honoka replied, tried to be friendly be received a death glare from her blonde friend.

Eri just decided to ignore her childhood friend and gave a polite smile to the other girls who also stood up. "Thank you for accepting our request on such short notice." She said in a polite smile before giving a small bow of the head. "I hope we will be at the height of your expectation and you won't find the match too boring."

The ravenette returned the bow. "It's a pleasure for us. I hope this match will forever be remembered."

"Onee-sama." The petite brunette girl, whose hair was attached in girly pigtails, turned to the taller girl. "It is almost time to start the preparations."

Said girl nodded as she turned back to Eri. "Well then, if you'll excuse us."

The girls from Otonokizaka bowed their head as Lillian's tankery club girls started walking toward their tanks. After a good minute, they finally decided to walk back to their own tanks.

"So, she's the famous Ogasawara Sachiko?" Nozomi placed a finger on her chin. "I heard she is very talented in lot of things, Sensha-do included."

"And her loader, also petite soeur is the famous Fukuzawa Yumi." Eri continued.

"Petite soeur?" The ginger questioned.

"It means little sister in French." Seira was the one to explain. "In Lillian, they have a tradition where a senior take a junior under her wings and threat her like a real sister or lover. As of what I heard, Sachiko-san and Yumi-san are total opposites but because of that can fill each other's weakness. In addition, there's Touko-san, Sachiko-san's cousin and Yumi-san's petite soeur. Together, they form the iron maiden trio and are among the best team in high school Shensha-do."

"Wow! I didn't know that." Honoka walked closer to the purplenette as that caught her interest. "And what else do you know about them? Any information might help us?"

The taller girl gave a polite smile. "I'm afraid my knowledge is limited… However, I am sure Tsubasa-san or Niko-san might know more things than I do."

The ginger nodded before running ahead, leaving three sighing girls behind. She also had an idea about who might be knowledgeable enough and soon found the person she was looking for and. "Kayo-chan!"

Said brunette turned toward her friend, leaving Rin alone to face Maki's wrath for goofing up with the Crusader's engine while testing it few minutes prior. "What is it, Honoka-chan?"

"I wanted to ask you everything you know about our opponents."

Then, the brunette instantly changed her personality from meek to passionate fangirls. "I will be glad to!" She grabbed her friend's hands. "The trio Sachiko-Yumi-Touko is always in the same tank, their favorite being the Somua S35 and they are the freelancers of the group, having high mobility and fire accuracy. Plus, they are very good at thinking about instant strategies together. And there's the duo Sei-Yoshino who are both commanding Cromwell and people nickname them as the Aggressive-Passive death because they have that impeccable teamwork where they switch from aggressive and passive like the name suggest it. And finally, there's the duo Shimako-Noriko who are among the best snipers of St Lillian!"

Honoka smiled awkwardly. "Y-yeah… Thank you, Kayo-chan…"

[-x-x-x-]

"Let the match begins!"

As soon as these words echoed through the battle area, every tank present started to move forward. Both teams were assigned at two different areas; Lillian's stationed near the forest and Otonokizaka's atop one of the hills.

"All right everyone! We will advance according to the plan A." Honoka spoke through the microphone in her hand. She was in the open, out of the Tiger's main hatch and so were Seira, Eri, Kokoa, Maki and Chika on their respective tanks. "The enemies are using one Somua S-35, two Cromwell, two AMC 35, one Renault FT and a Matilda for this match. Since this is an annihilation match, our objective is to immobilize all enemy tanks."

"Aye!" Kokoa nodded. "So, the plan is to bait them as to separate their force and overwhelm them one by one with sheer number, right?"

Honoka nodded until Niko's voice echoed from the radio. _"That's an awkward way of fighting you have here."_

Eri just smiled. "The original plan was to charge right away and count on battle experience but since most of us are lacking that…"

" _What about the plan where we hold a siege and bombard them with all our tanks from a higher place?"_ This time was Arisa's voice.

"We will keep that as a plan C in case of both the plan A and B fails."

" _And what is that plan B already?"_ Mari questioned from inside the jagdtiger and everyone sighed, remembering that the blonde has been sleeping during the match briefing the day prior.

"In case they refuse to separate their force of find a way to counter our number, we will drive them in the forest by using baits while the others prepare an ambush." Seira was the one who replied.

" _Oh. I see… That sounds so shiny!"_

Everyone nodded after that and Honoka grabbed the microphone. "Well then, everyone; advance according to the division plan we have assigned yesterday." She closed her eyes one second to take a breath before opening them again. "Panzer vor!"

[-x-x-x-]

At the other side of the battlefield, Lillian's tanks were slowly advancing at a steady speed. They were keeping a delta position with the Somua leading it. Inside said French tank, Sachiko was the commander and radio operator while Yumi was the loader and Touko the gunner. Another girl with a pair of glasses and a camera was their driver.

"Please keep steady, Tatsuko-san."

Said driver nodded as she reduced the vehicle's speed and the ravenette peeked outside from the turret's upper hatch. Lillian's tanks have been modified so that the upper hatch was open-able, allowing for the commander to have a better view at the surrounding.

A tall girl with short blonde hair was atop the first Cromwell while her cousin, a shorter girl with raven hair attached in a pair of braids, was on the other Cromwell. "Jeez! Rei-chan, you're lagging behind once again. Sachiko-sama has told us to keep a constant speed of 17.4 kilometers per hour where you are at 16.9."

The blonde just sighed and the girl atop the AMC smiled awkwardly. The one commanding the Matilda was an elegant girl with long, curly blonde hair and was having a calm aura around her. She turned to the commander of the Renault FT. "Are you nervous, Noriko?"

Said raventte was slightly fidgeting but quickly smiled toward her soeur. "No. I was just drawing on a talisman." She said while showing said accessory.

Shimako just smiled back before turning forward. Not one minute later though, the commander of the second AMC spoke through the radio. _"Enemy found at 1 o'clock."_

Everyone turned to said direction to see the Type 97 slowly driving near the forest entrance. Rie took her own microphone as her eyes followed the Japanese tank's movement. "It's a lure. Ignore it." She said and the other tanks continued forward.

Seira peeked from the hatch. "They are ignoring us apparently."

" _Please try to get their attention. The Afterschool Navigator team is already on their way."_

Mika turned to their commander and said purplenette gave the orders. "Hanamaru-san, could you get us closer." She then turned to Fumiko. "Also, only use the machine gun we are only to get their attention and since the number of shell are limited."

The four other girls nodded as the Type 97 went after Lillian's tanks. Meanwhile, inside the Crusader, which was being driven at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, the four members were more or less got used to working together. Maki sighed as she watched through the scope. "Though… Afterschool Navigators… What made Honoka decided to call our time like that?"

"Maybe because we are still very childish and enjoy having fun afterschool nya~"

"And because the Crusader was originally a project of Destroyer tank but they decided to make a tank in the end." Hanayo continued. "Also, I think it was better to give every team a nice name. Oharai too did give name to each team, like Turtle team for the Hetzer, Leopon team for the Royal Tiger, Ankou team for the Panzer IV or even Duck team for the Type 89."

Niko scoffed. "But at least our name is better compared to the others." She said while holding a map. "We have the Mikan Kan team for the Jagtiger, Snow Support for the Type 97 Shinhoto, Breadwinners for the Tiger I, Dare no Hanazono for the IS-2, Imouto Unity for the Matilda II, A-RISE for the Sherman Firefly and Afterschool Navigators for us Crusader Mk-IV."

Hanayo chuckled. "But I guess these names are very cute." She said before watching through the scope. "Enemies at 11 hours."

Maki followed by climbing out of the hatch and grabbed the microphone. "The Snow Support team is already after them but they are being ignored." She then went back inside and turned to the driver. "Rin, drive in front of their trajectories to get their attention."

"Roger nya!" Rin was more confident in her driving abilities since the last match, mostly because she got the chance to spend more time with her fellow drivers in Otonokizaka, namely Yô, Ria, Dia, Hanamaru, Yukiho and Anju.

The British tank was driven in front of Lillian's and Yoshino gritted her teeth. "They are provoking us."

"An encirclement you could say." Her loader commented.

Rei decided to get inside the Cromwell and aimed. As her loader loaded a shell, she spoke into the radio. "Break through their encirclement in that case."

The CO thought an instant as she also got inside the Somua. "Let us break our formation without getting too far from each others and take them down. The Type 97 and the Crusader are both fast and mobile but doesn't have that much armor."

"Roger!" The energetic braid-haired girl also got inside her Cromwell. The two Cromwell started shooting at the incoming gray British tanks.

"Make evasion maneuvers, Rin." The red-head commanded and turned to her girlfriend. "Do not use the cannon yet."

Niko nodded as she rotated the turret and shoot with the machinegun, getting the first AMC's attention. Following that, the seven Lillian tanks dispersed and both Seira and Maki were left surprised and they both had tanks after them.

"Not good!" Fumiko watched through the scope. "They are overwhelming us."

The two AMC and the Matilda were after them while the two Cromwell and the Renault were after the Crusader. The girls were starting to panic as the Lillian tanks were bombarding them.

" _Send assistance! We are surrounded! I repeat: send assistance."_ Mika's voice echoed in the other Otonokizaka tanks and Honoka turned to Eri who was sitting atop the IS-2.

The blonde just nodded as she got inside the Soviet tank. Nozomi smiled as she grabbed the microphone. "Mikan Kan team, we are making our sortie."

Chika and Yô cheered from inside the Jagdtiger. "Aye! Full speed ahead yousoro!"

As the two heavy tanks were riding from the hill, the ginger turned to the Firefly commander. "We are going to give support after finding a high place." She then turned to Kokoa who was waiting for an order. "Since the Matilda doesn't have as much effective range as the Tiger and the Firefly, you will be on stand-by and assist our front units in case things turn south. Meantime, you are to follow us."

The brunette nodded as the three tanks went toward the west, finding a sniping spot.

[-x-x-x-]

"It's no good nya!" Rin cried out as she drove the Crusader as fast as possible but the enemies always managed to catch up. "Rin wants to go home nya…"

"Hang in there, Rin-chan." Her brunette friend placed a hand on her shoulder. "The Mikan Kan and the Dare no Hanazono teams are already on their way here. Just a little more."

Just as these words were spoken, the Jagdtiger and the IS-2 appeared at the other side of the field, earning smiles from the other Otonokizaka girls. "Reinforcement! Yay!" Hideko cheered.

" _Sorry for the wait."_

" _We are going to disperse their units so fire at will."_ Eri commanded from the radio.

"You heard that, girls?" Chika turned to her crew mates.

Kanan was already done loading a shell. "Loading complete!"

Riko looked at the scope and the ginger peeked through her own scope before giving her order. "Fire!"

The powerful fire of the Jagdtiger landed in front of the FT, slightly confusing it an instant. Noriko almost fell from the gunner's position. "They are provoking us. What shall we do, Onee-sama?"

The blonde inside the Matilda thought an instant. "Let us destroy the Type 97 first and leave the Jagd to Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama."

"Roger!"

"You heard that, Rei-chan?" Yoshino too started aiming for the Japanese tank.

The blonde nodded as one of the Cromwell rushed toward the Mikan Kan team. Eri saw that and loaded a shell into the Stalin's cannon. "We need to cover the Jagd. They have more armor than us but their fixed turret is no help in close range combat."

Ruby nodded as she aimed for the incoming British tank and fired but it avoided by going at the side. The Cromwell's barrel was aiming at the German char hunter and hit it at full force but didn't take it down. Not long after, the Samua also joined in and hit it left side while one of the AMC was taking the front.

Chika was sent in all direction because of the impact until landing against Mari, her face thrown in the blonde's breasts, thankfully cushioning her fall. She enjoyed the feeling an instant until three jealous and angry girls glared at her and the ginger quickly backed away. "A-all right! We need to counter while backing slowly until our artillery support finds a good snipping spot."

Yô reluctantly nodded before engaging the gear and had the Jagd slowly fall back while Kanan loaded another round and the red-head aimed for the AMC, only to miss. Seeing that, Ruby also aimed said French vehicle and made a direct hit, knocking it and having its white flag appear.

Dia smiled widely as she turned to the red-head who was also smiling. "I didn't expect any less from my adorable little sister! You did it, Ruby!"

"I did my rubesty!"

Nozomi just smiled as Eri loaded another shell. "All right! Just keep this rhythm."

The Crusader got behind the IS-2 and Rin could sigh an instant while Hanayo loaded a shell. "We need to cover the Snow Support team until they arrive at this position." Maki ordered and her girlfriend fired but missed.

Unfortunately, the Type 97 was in a dire situation as the other AMC, one Cromwell, one Matilda and the FT were after them. As Hideko loaded another shell and Mika gave the coordination for Fumiko to shoot, their tank aggressively rocked as it left track broke.

"This is bad zura!"

"It isn't the end yet." Seira said as she watched through the scope. "Until our tank is taken down, there is still hope. Aim for the Matilda first."

"Aye!" Fumiko aime and fired but it missed and the British tank aimed for them. Just as it shoot though the IS-2 rushed beside the Type 97 as to cover it, driving the incoming bullet away after hitting its front armor.

" _Are you all right?"_

"Our track broke but we can still make it." Seira replied as she watched through the scope.

The Stalin fired and hit the other AMC 35 and provoked the Matilda to slowly fall back. However, as the Soviet tank has decided to take the front, their aligned front was disordered, allowing the Cromwell and the Somua to overwhelm the Jagd and the Crusader.

The German tank, having a fixed turret, always needed to turn or back away whenever the enemy exited its direct front. By that time, Yô and Riko were used to working together but the constant rocking due to bullets hitting their armor, aiming has turned harder. The Afterschool Navigator team has attempted to interfere by aiming at the French tank but got countered and took a frontal hit, not enough to knock it but enough to rock the inside.

"Jeez! They are far more experienced than us." The ginger whimpered before her eyes caught sign of the Matilda's cannon pointed direct in their direction and quickly drove the Crusader backward, causing more rocking.

The Lillian tank fired and hit the Crusader's front, causing more confusion inside the small tank. "Jeez! There's no end to them." Maki sighed before watching through the scope. "Rin, drive us forward and make a complete 180° turn so we could surprise the Somua from behind."

"Roger nya!"

The Crusader advanced at full speed, leaving the Mikan Kan team on their own. Before the gray tank could turn though, another bullet hit its rear and it was knocked several times before crashing upside down. Its white flag soon appeared as the Renault FT's loader loaded another shell. "All right! One down!"

Eri gritted her teeth as she loaded another shell. "Honoka! We really need assistance, like right now!"

Said ginger heard her and turned to the Matilda team. "Kokoa-chan; could you join them while A-RISE and us get into position?"

"Leave it to us!" The brunette saluted and the British tank advanced at full speed, descending the mountain while the two other tanks continued until reaching a certain area where they had a good view of the battle that was going on.

Honoka and Tsubasa both watched through their goggles. "The distance is 1000 meters." The ginger commented. "It's still inside the Tiger's effective range." She then took a map and grabbed the microphone to give the coordination for the gunners.

Both Erena and Umi followed by rotating their turret until pointing to the sky and fired after getting approbation. Both bullets roamed the skies until landing on the actual battlefield, the first in front of the Samua and the second near the FT. Sachiko was surprised and watched through the commander's scope. "Death from above, hun?"

Her loader took another shell and turned to her senior. "Shall we do something against them? The Somua is a competent hiker after all."

The raven-haired girl nodded before grabbing the microphone. "Rosa Foetida; we are changing our plan. We need to take the snipers first."

Rei nodded at the other side of the line before ordering her crewmate to abandon the hunt of the Jagtiger and advanced into the nearest forest so that they could get atop the hill without being discovered. Just as they exited the battlefield, the Otonokizaka's Matilda has arrived and fired several rounds of bullets toward the Renault FT but none of them hit. Their Cromwell countered and hit the Sister Support directly, knocking them back though.

"Woaa!" The brunette lost balance and fell atop Yukiho. "We got knocked out already?" She whimpered.

Arisa just gave a polite smile. "Never mind. It was still very funny." Kokoro nodded.

"Our Matilda was immobilized as well." Nozomi informed her girlfriend who was now sweating from loading another shell into the principal cannon.

"So, that makes it a 5 on 5, hun?"

"And their Somua and other Cromwell is nowhere to be seen."

"They are more likely targeting Honoka and Tsubasa." The blonde concluded. "Let us just focus on winning this front first.

As these words escaped her lips, a bullet hit the Type 97's left side and immobilized it though. It was the Cromwell who was running fearlessly all around the field and shooting very accurate bullets. The Jagdtiger's track has been broken and the Stalin's turret was damaged and unable to rotate. Fortunately, Dia and Ruby were used to working together so the younger sibling could aim while her sister maneuvered the tank's position.

As the Cromwell was about to charge direct at the IS though, a bullet from the sky hit it and it motor stopped after steam exploded on its motor. Yoshino sighed ash she fell back on her chair. "They snipped us, hun?"

Inside the Firefly, Yoshiko was loading another bullet while the brunette was giving the next coordination. Before they could fire though, a bullet flew until hitting the American tank's rear and knocked it out. Fortunately, Tsubasa was agile and fast enough to quickly go back inside and wasn't wounded but that resulted in her falling once again atop the bluenette first year.

"Dammit! Why me?" The chuunibyou girl cursed.

Honoka was alerted and turned to see the Somua and a Cromwell climbing toward their direction. She quickly went inside and motioned to Ria and Umi to get ready for a close range combat. However, she told the first year girl to rush directly at the British tank first. The two tanks collided, with the Tiger's cannon right against their enemy's armor and fired, knocking the Cromwell back.

On the other battlefield, the Jagtiger fired one last time, hitting the Renault FT but then got hit by the Matilda and both the German and the French tanks were out. It was now a face-off between Eri's team and Shimako's.

The Tiger I faced the Somua S-35 and the two commanders slightly greeted before getting in position. Both tanks rushed forward and crossed path, exchanging fire and both missing, before turning and facing each others again. The French tank opened fire but the bullet was deviated after hitting the Tiger's inclined frontal armor. The counter came but the Somua backed away and the bullet hit the ground.

Back to Eri and Shimako, the Stalin and the Matilda exchanged fire from two different sides of the field. The IS was not in an advantage because of its damaged turret. Fortunately, it could still fire, but the time in between the loading was becoming more important since the blonde was starting to get tired.

"Eri-chi…"

"Eri-sama…"

"It's nothing." The quarter-Russian girl smiled before loading another shell. "We need to settle this fast!"

And with that, the IS-2 charged at the Matilda who was aiming at them. Both tanks fired and both bullets hit. The Stalin took the direct hit and had its white flag rise while the Matilda was hit in the left track, sending it flying before falling back down upside down.

The Tiger and the Somua only remained now and the two tanks started rushing down the hill while their canons were pointed at each others. Bullets went past the few trees they encountered and hit the ground. Kotori was, by now, used to the weight of the 88 mm shell so Honoka could focus on overwatching and giving the coordination.

As the two tanks arrived at the bottom of the hill, they put some distance in between them before facing each others. "This exchange will decide the outcome of this match." Sachiko said.

"Yes, Onee-sama." Yumi nodded as she loaded another bullet and placed a hand on her petite soeur's shoulder. "Toukou-chan; it's up to you." She then turned to the driver. "Tsutako-san; could you get us as close as possible?"

The cameraman nodded as she engaged the gear. "All right!"

The two tanks rushed at each others and the Tiger fired first, hitting the Somua's track but not stopping it. Not one second later, Touko pressed the trigger and the 47 mm cannon fired a bullet that hit the German tank's left rear side, at the exact area where it's motor was supposed to be. The white flag popped atop the Tiger's turret and Honoka sighed before her lips formed a smile.

[-x-x-x-]

"Thank you very much for the match!"

Every girl from both team bowed their head at each others now that the match was over and the automobile club members were already taking care of the damaged tnaks.

Sachiko, accompanied by her soeur and cousin, walked over to where Honoka and Eri were standing. The two Otonokizaka students were arguing about what they should have for diner but quickly regained their composure as they saw the trio walking toward them. "Thank you for the match."

The ginger waved a huge smile. "It was really fun. We might have lost but it was still a very good match!"

The brunette returned the smile. "I agree. You gave us a very exciting match. I am glad Onee-sama has accepted to face you."

Even the usually grumpy twintailed girl beside Yumi couldn't help a smile on her lips. "It was worth the deplacement. Fighting against St Gloriana and Oharai was thrilling but Otonokizaka is also full of surprise."

"We hope to have a revenge match someday." Eri continued, hoping to get another match when they will be more experienced.

"Of course! Maybe we'll get the chance to face each others in an official match." Yumi said happily. "You are also going to participate in the upcoming tournament, right?"

"Of course! We need to save our school after all." Honoka replied. "We don't need to win. We just need to be in the best 4 and Otonokizaka's future will be assured."

Sachiko smiled at the ginger's word. "You have determination. You reminds me of Yumi when we met." She then placed a hand in front of her mouth and chuckled. "We won't hold back during the tournament so better ready yourselves in that case."

"We will!"

And with that, the Lillian girls started walking their way back toward their transporter bus. The tanks were left to the pickup trucks that were tasked to bring them back to the school-ships and the girls of Otonokizaka got back in their own bus.

"Maaan~ Today was so much fun!"

"Maru agrees zura!"

"It was very exciting nya~"

"Even though you lost, wan?"

Rin backed of one step and Shiitake took two steps forward. Then, the cat-like girl started running all around, inside the bus while the whitette was running after her. She cried out. "Riko-chan, help me, nya!"

Said red-head just sighed as everyone else laughed.

[-x-x-x-]

 **A/N: For these who might be wondering, yes; I am going to have the girls of the automobile club (namely Shima, Mito, Kotarou, Shiitake, Itsuki, Yoshimi and Mutsu) to join the Sensha-do club after finding more tanks. I already have planned which one they will ride.**

 **Also, for their appearance, there is no change for Kotarou's. He just became a she. As for Shiitake, she looks like Chiya from Urara Meiro-cho in both appearance and character.**

 **Finally, Shima, Mito and Kotarou are both third years while Itsuki, Yoshimi, Mutsu and Shiitake are in second year.**

 **That's all! Hope to see you again soon!**


	5. More lessons & new friends

Another loud sound of bullet being fired roared in the battlefield. In one side was the alliance Otonokizaka-Astrae-Namori while opposing them was the Pravda-Kuromorimine. It was an exhibition match. Since too many schools were willing to take part in the big inter-school Sensha-do tournament, the federation has decided to create exhibition matches to reduce the number of participants. As to advance, a school needed to win at least two battles out of three.

However, they decided to apply new rules in which a school was randomly paired with another one and the battles always went two schools against two school. The participants were allowed to deploy five tanks each, meaning ten tanks by each side.

" _We are in a dire situation!"_ The commander of Astrae-Namori's Panzer III screamed in the radio. Said tank was caught in the middle of an ambuscade of Soviet heavy tanks alongside Otonokizaka's Crusader and Matilda. _"Please send reinforcement! We won't be able to hold any longer."_ The raven-haired girl sighed as she watched through the scope. "Hikari," she spoke to her loader. "Please load explosive shell! We need to hold as long as we can. It will take at least 15 minutes before Shizuma-sama or Honoka to get here."

The blonde nodded as she grabbed a heavy shell and loaded it. As soon as she was done though, the Panzer III went rocking as its track was hit but didn't break. The driver quickly had the vehicle back away. "Yaya-chan!" She turned to the commander who was ready to shoot any time.

Yaya didn't hesitate as she pressed the trigger and the bullet hit one of the assaulting T-34, knocking it out. "Quick! Another shell!"

Hikari nodded but the tank went rocking another time. "Kya!"

"Hikari!" The black-haired girl turned to her friend who has fallen and quickly helped her standing up. "Are you all right?" The blonde reluctantly nodded as she got up. Yaya gritted her teeth. "Damn it!"

Inside the Crusader and the Matilda too, panic was reigning over. The British tank was almost running out of shell and fuel and because they were trapped in a clearer area, their armor won't help them for too long, especially since Pravda's anti-char T-34 and T-76 were there, bombarding them.

Katyusha was laughing from atop her tank while her third in command, Clara was overwatching everything from one of the assault tank. "[It is just a question of time before they fall]." The blonde girl said in Russian.

"Clara; how many time do I have to tell you to speak Japanese/English!" The petite commander sighed before a proud smile appeared on her face. "Bah! They are going to fall down soon anyway."

" _Katyusha, what are you doing?"_ The voice of Kuromorimine's commander echoed in the radio. _"Aren't you done defeating three tanks yet? You're lagging behind."_

Said girl grabbed her microphone and had a grin on her face. "They're unexpectedly resistant but it's just a question of time. Or could it be that dear Maho-sha need Katyusha's assistance because she can't defeat Otonokizaka's front line?"

From the other side of the line, the brunette kept her stoic face as she stood out of the Tiger I's hatch, overwatching the savage battle that was going on. Kuromorimine's heavy chars were engaged against the first line of the opposite alliance force. They were five against Otonokizaka-Astrae-Namori's IS-2, Panzer IV ausf F2, Panzer V Panther, and T-85.

Astrae-Namori were originally two separate schools but were forced to fuse at some point about a decade prior. They were mainly using German and Soviet tanks with rotating turret such as the Panzer series, Tiger, the T series and the good old BT. Their CO was Hanazono Shizuma, a prodigy in the art of tankery and a total womanizer that usually commands a Tiger. Her second in command was Toshino Kyouko, also a prodigy but a lazy one that prefers the Stalin because of its tough armor and powerful armament.

"Ghee!" The blonde commander of the Stalin grinned as she watched through the scope. "They are annoying!"

"I didn't expect any less from Kuromorimine." The silver-haired tall girl from inside the Panther replied as she inspected the map in her hand before grabbing the microphone. "Honoka-san's units are already on their way to assist you so hold in there."

" _As if we had the choice."_ Yaya's voice came from the radio. _"Tell them to move faster!"_

At the same time, Otonokizaka's Tiger, Type 97 and Firefly were being driven at a very fast speed on a grassy area, planning on assisting the Matilda and Crusader to assault the enemy flag tank. Katyusha's tank was theirs while Kyouko's IS was to be their alliance's flag tank. They originally planned on dividing their forces in three; the first one composed of four tanks, flag tank included to remain at a safe place while getting the enemies German tank's attention while the six others get the in the offensive. Unfortunately, the Panzer III, Matilda and Crusader fell on an ambuscade while the Firefly, Tiger and Type 97 were doing recon at the other side of the hill.

"We will be there in five minutes!" Honoka said as she was watching through her goggles. Eri was standing atop the American tank while Maki was on the other one. They have decided to temporally reassign the team divisions since they were only alloyed to deploy five vehicles. Plus, the automobile team needed some assistance with two new tanks they found out.

The ginger got back inside the German vehicle and was greeted by Kanan, Erena and Hanamaru. Since her former teammates did have knowledge about mechanics, they have been assigned to assist the reparation of the new tanks. "I hope we will be there before they are completely whipped out." The loader commented as she crossed her arms.

Back at the Soviet's assault, the Matilda was severely damaged. The temporal commander—Chika—was watching through the scope while Ruby and Kokoa were trying to cover up by shooting as frequently as they could. Unfortunately, with their broken track, they had no chance to avoid as Nonna's IS aimed and fired, only to hit them directly. The British tank's white flag popped up.

Yaya saw that and gritted her teeth. "It's a 4 vs 2 now!" She then grabbed the microphone. "Tsubasa-san; are you still in? We need your cooperation."

"Of course! Our strategy is to keep up a little longer until Honoka-san and Eri-san get here."The brunette replied before turning to Kokoro, Yukiho and Hanayo. "We are going to cover the Panzer III. Drive our tank in front of them so we could serve as a shield and allow them to aim."

"Roger!" The red-head replied as she engaged the gear and drove the crusader in front of the German tank. It was instantly smashed with rounds of bullet from the enemies though but their sacrifice has allowed the raven-haired girl to aim and shoot to take down the nearest T-76.

The driver of the Panzer sighed as she watched from over her shoulder. "Yaya-senpai; it's a three against one now. We are in a dire situation, especially now that they are bombarding us from three different directions."

"I know that, Tsubomi." The gunner replied as Hikari loaded another shell. "Dammit! What's taking them this long?" Before she could open fire though, the first T-34 opened fire and hit the German tank's left track. "Oh fu-"

"Now, they are unable to move any longer! Get them!" Katyusha yelled but before anyone could do anything a bullet crashed near her tank. She quickly turned to the left to see the Firefly and company from atop a hill, descending at full speed in their direction. "Jeez! What is Maho-sha doing? How come they got this far?" She quickly went back inside the soviet tank and had it turn to the newcomers. "Nonna, finish off that char while Clara and I hold them up. Be quick and join us as soon as you could."

The ravenette nodded as the Russian girl followed the directive and the two T-34 went toward the incomers. Honoka saw that and commanded the gunner to shoot but the Soviet tanks easily avoided their fires. They countered but the Type 97 managed to evade by backing away and fired, hitting the enemy but was too far from its effective range. Katyusha's tank fired again and hit the Japanese tank, knocking it off.

"Ghe! Another of our char has fallen." Kanan pointed out as she loaded another shell and the red-head fired but missed again.

" _Panzer III has been immobilized."_ Hikari's voice echoed from the radio. _"The IS that took us is on its way toward Honoka-san's direction. Please be careful."_

As soon as these words were heard though, said Soviet heavy tank fired and laded a shot near the Firefly. Eri got back inside and turned to her crewmate. "Aim for their flagtank only!" Riko and Yoshiko nodded. The blonde then grabbed the microphone. "How is the situation over at your front, Kyouko-san?"

"Bad!" The blonde said while looking through the scope. "They already took off our Panzer IV and T-85 and their five tanks are bombarding us non-stop." She sighed before turning to her crewmates. "Chinatsu-chan, we are falling back."

Said pink-haired girl looked from over her shoulder. "We can't anymore. Any meter of backing and we will be in a muddy and unstable ground." They were currently fighting near a bog so they had to be careful. The driver understood the risks and instead, had the IS advance forward and take another trajectory but a bullet crashed in front of it. "Yui-senpai!"

Said ravenette aimed and fired but the bullet hit the enemie's Jagdtiger, ricocheting it before said German tank countered. "They are too powerful and their overwhelming number isn't helping either."

The red-head loaded another shell and sighed as she started to massage her arms. "These shells are hyper heavy. Plus, we are almost running out of them."

"Hang in there, Akari-chan!" The driver cheered as she had the IS back away slightly to avoid a shoot from Erika's Tiger II. "That means the enemies are almost out of ammo as well."

Kyouko placed a hand on her chin as she thought an instant before grabbing the microphone. "Eri-chi, how is the situation over there?"

" _Bad we could say."_ The blonde replied from over the radio. _"Their teamwork is insanely good. Plus, they are overwhelming us."_

The blonde sighed. "Maybe we can't win this battle after all. Bah, they were both former champions after all."

" _Nothing is decided in advance."_ This time was Shizuma's voice. _"Titles are meaningless. Only strategies count in battles."_

The IS's commander shook her head before watching through the scope and saw the Tiger I aiming at them. "Well… I guess we can't always win because of the beginner's luck."

Maho paused an instant as to allow her gunner to aim properly. The later nodded to her and she gave the order. "Fire!" As these words escaped her lips, the German tank's bullet flew until smashing the enemy's flagtank.

" _Otonokizaka-Astrae-Namori's flag tank has been immobilized!"_ The announcer judge's voice echoed in the area as to allow everyone, players and spectators to hear. _Moreover, the alliance Kuromorimine-Pravda is victorious."_

[-x-x-x-]

"Bah; don't mind!" Kyouko just happily said. After the end of the match, the girls of both schools were gathered at the lodge to get a friendly bath. "Unlike Mirakurun, there are times we must lose some battle."

Even the Pravda and Kuromorimine were with them. Since their battle has taken place near a volcano area and a town popular from open bath was not far, it was a must to visit there. It was also a sign of fair play to do such thing and promote their school's image.

Honoka sighed as she dove into the water until the shoulders and smiled. "Ahhh~ it's heaven…" She purred, earning a chuckle from the red-head beside her.

"I agree that being in an open bath like this is nice from time to time." She smiled while resting against the rock and crossed her legs from inside the water.

"Don't Astrea also have an open bath though?" Tsubasa, who was beside her, questioned.

"There is but I rarely go there." Nagisa replied as she closed her eyes. "Tamao-chan, Hikari-chan, Yaya-chan, Chiyou-chan and I usually prefer spending our evenings having tea party."

"I see…"

At the other side of the bath, Hanayo was breathing heavily as she watched in the direction of the Kuromorimine commander. It was the first time she saw Nishizumi Maho from this close and wanted to get an autograph but didn't have the guts and instead got tackled from behind but the commanders of the Jagdpanther and the Panzer III. "What do you think you are doing? Watching our Komander with such lewd eyes."

"Hein?" The brunette's face instantly turned. "That wasn't my intention at all!"

"Like I would believe such lie!"

"But it's the truth! I was just thinking of a way to get an autograph."

"You are just looking for excuses to get closer to her!"

"We'll have to let you know that half the students of Kuromori also want to get 'special' lessons from the Komander so keep yourself very far away."

"S-someone help meee…!"

Chika, who oversaw the scene, walked over to the three girls. "But I think Maho-san is a great person too."

The two Kuromorimine girls glared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean because she has the guts to go out with her sister and the implications if their mother found out. She is truly an awesome person!"

Silence followed as the two girls froze instantly. "Miho-san… and Maho-san…?"

"Am I mistaken?" The ginger tilted her head. "Because I mean they are a bit too close to be just sisters. Even Dia-san and Ruby-chan are no match when it comes to that domain. You know, even fiction writers has started writing fantasy stories about them."

The two girls paused an instant. "Do you realize how insolent these words of yours are?"

"Hun?" Chika tilted her head in the other side. "I mean, Dia-chan, Ruby-chan, Riko-chan, Tsubasa-san and Honoka-san are—as they insist—shipping them and find their couple very cute."

"So… As to conclude, your opinion is only based on the fantasies of your teammates?" The Jagdpanther's commander facepalmed. "Do you at least realize how troublesome the situation will be in if anyone hears about what you just said?"

"What do you mean?"

The two Kuromorimine girls sweatdropped. _'She's just too dense. What's wrong with Otonokizaka's commanders?'_

[-x-x-x-]

Kotarou let go of a yawn as she stretched. It was a hot day and the Otonokizaka ship was sailing in the Pacific Ocean, still waiting for their next match to be decided. Since the return of the tankery girls, they have been training a lot more because they only had two chances left now and if they lost another time, the school was going to close down for good. That only meant more job for the automobile girls though as they got additional reparation work in the evening in addition to still having to repair the tanks they found.

The raven-haired girl walked back inside the hangar and was greeted by six hard-working girls. Itsuki, Mutsu and Yoshimi were reading few documents that explained the functions of their new tanks while the three others were busy looking through their tool closet. The girls of the Sensha-do team were currently using the field, trying to raise their mobility and teamwork.

Kotarou stepped in and approached the Marder III that was in a bad shape. She placed a hand on it and paused an instant before opening the rear cover and scanned the motor. It was in a bad shape, even though they spent the last week working on it. It was just hard to try and repair its accessories since they didn't have enough budgets to buy new ones. She sighed.

Shima saw that and walked back to her friend. "But I was surprised that we managed to find it back." The ravenette turned to her and the brunette smiled. "I am glad we were able to go visit Uchiura after the match against Lillian Jo-Gakuin. We were able to find this good old friend of our."

"It was the first tank we repaired…"

The taller girl nodded. "Honoka, Eri, Ruby, Dia and Nozomi has manhandled it a lot but it was fun repairing it. If we manage to bring it back alive, we will be able to join them as well."

One of the still studying girls turned to the duo. The seven of them were clad in combination so they didn't have to fear their clothes getting dirty. "Come to think of it, you all already knew each others since middle school."

"We started tankery together you could say wan." Shiitake got behind Yoshimi and hugged her from behind.

The brunette nodded as she continued to watch the files scattered on the mat. "But the remains of this T-34 we found the other day are completely helpless." She then glanced at said ravaged tank. "Only the chassis is repairable. The rest is…"

"Hopeless." Kotarou finished as she walked over to said vehicle. They have managed to repair what they could but then had to stop because it would just be a waste of time to try and repair the turret. "A conversion kit."

"A what?" Mutsu tilted her head at the side.

"A conversion kit." Yoshimi explained. "As you know, during the war, lot of tanks was built and every country always found a way to improve theirs. As the time passed though, some of them, instead of thinking about conception, has decided to use few parts of the already existing tanks and ameliorated them to match their opponent's forces."

Itsuki smiled widely as she continued her friend's explanation. "For example, there are the Marder series as well as the Hetzer and such for the 38(t). We can also add in the Sturmgescutz or StuG for short where the chassis of Panzer III or IV are used. If we consider the T-34, there are the SU-85 and the SU-100 that uses that chassis."

"Oh."

Shiitake then turned to the raven-haired girl. "So, we should convince the prez to buy us a conversion kit, is it wan?"

Kotarou nodded but before she could say anything, four newcomers entered the hangar. The one leading their group was a cheerful blonde everyone recognized as Toshino Kyoko. "Hello there!"

"Good morning!" Shima greeted back.

"We came here to visit your team." The raven-haired newcomer—known as Funami Yui—continued as she walked deeper and awed at the hyper damaged tank. "Wow! This T-34 is in a very bad shape."

Mito just nodded as she stepped behind the taller girl. "We were thinking about changing its turret with an amelioration kit. If we pass the preliminaries and access the tournament, we'll need more tanks since up to 10 can be used on the first round and 25 for the finals."

"Please do your best!" The red-head—Akaza Akari—cheered. "Even though we lost the first match, we still both have two other chances."

"Akari-chan is right." Yoshikawa Chinatsu added, earning a pair of smile from the Takami sisters.

Yui was lost in her thought as she examined the damaged tank. "I think I saw a SU kit back in Astrae-Namori… Since we only use rotating turret though, I doubt anyone really want to use it."

"Really wan?" The white-haired energetic mechanic girl asked cheerfully, stars in her eyes. "Then, can we have it wan?"

"I don't really remember where it was so I think you should ask Shizuma-senpai."

"We just got here a while ago by using Astrae-Namori's Boeing plane." Akari explained with a smile. "Since our school carrier was not that far from here, Kyoko-chan thought we should visit you to apologize for our incompetence."

"Hey! I didn't say it that way." The blonde defended. "But I admit we did many mistakes during the engagement and might have been the reason of our defeat."

"Oh. Kyoko is civilized for once." Her childhood friend freaked out before giving a grin. "Are you really Kyoko or some angel that accidentally fell on earth?"

"How rude!"

"Kekeke." Everyone turned to the source of the laughter to see Yoshiko walking their way. Said girl was clad in her practice outfit and was wearing her signature pose. "I just happened to hear about other fallen angels here. As the great fallen Yohane, I shall lead them to the way of-"

Before she could finish her sentence though, someone accidentally bumped into her from behind and the two of them fell on the ground. Whimpering in pain, the red-head quickly stood up and offered a hand to help the younger girl. "Oh. I'm really sorry!"

Yui turned to the newcomer. "What's wrong, Nagisa? Did something happen for you to be in such a rush?"

The girl turned to her classmate and pointed to the exit. "Tamao-chan and Shizuma-sama got in a fight with the girls of Otonokizaka. Please help!"

The seven girl of the automobile club quickly rushed outside and were followed by the Namori students. As they were at the field, they saw that it was filled with girls from both Otonokizaka and Astrae-Namori while a Boeing 200 was being parked not far from there.

The commander of Astrae-Namori, a stunning beauty—also known as Hanazono Shizuma—alongside another blue-haired girl—Suzumi Tamao—was engaged in a very fierce conversation with Eri, Honoka, Hanayo, Dia and Tsubasa.

"Since I'm telling you Miho x Maho is a thing!" The older Kurosawa sister insisted as Ruby sweatdropped at the side.

"That might be true but Maho x Erika is cannon!" The repunzel-haired girl replied as she took a step forward.

The girls wearing Astrae-Namori's sailor uniform sweatdropped in the background. "S-shizuma-sama… Please calm down…"

Her friend Miyuki started to drag her away but Shizuma didn't budge. Yaya even stepped in. "And everyone knows that Miho x Yukari will win in the end!"

"Yaya-chan… please calm down…"

"Senpai…"

Hikari and Tsubomi facepalmed while trying to bring some sense back into their friend but couldn't as Tamao decided to add more into the fire. "You're all mistaken! Miho x Saori is undoubtly the number one couple in Oharai."

Her red-head friend started trembling and attempted to drag the taller girl away. "T-Tamao-chan… l-let's forget about all this and have a walk around…" She said, trying to ease the atmosphere since four pair of eyes were glaring daggers at the young Suzumi girl.

"What are you all saying?" An anonymous voice came from the gathered crowd. "They are all straight!"

"Who said that?!" Shizuma, Dia, Yaya and Hanayo both glared at the other gathered girl, who all instantly flinched. "That's one worse insult one could tell."

Following that was an awkward silence as they resumed arguing about what was the best pairing and who was best waifu material. The automobile girls just sighed as Kotarou approached the silver-haired woman and stood behind her until said young woman took notice of her presence.

Shizuma paused an instant before leaning closer, placing her finger on the younger girl's chin. "You're a cute one, aren't you~" She commented before her eyes traveled slightly down. "But kind of flat."

The raven-haired girl didn't react as her big round eyes just stayed unfocused. "Perv." She just quietly commented as the older girl let go of her.

"I think it runs in the family yan~" Nozomi teasingly said as she stepped behind Niko who was beside her young cousin. "Every girl from the Yazawa family that we know are all chopping board." She then motioned to Kokoro, Kokoa, Niko and Kotarou who, by instinct, covered their chest. "See~?"

"Woaa! I never thought of that wan." The whitette awed before finally shaking her head and decided to become a little more serious. "Flat-chested girls aside," she turned to the commander of Astrae-Namori, her eyes huge from expectation. "We heard you have an unused SU amelioration kit and since we are in a pinch and looking for more tanks, you could be kind enough wan."

"Hun?" Shizuma turned to the energetic girl and had a grin on her face. "It's true that Ayano accidentally bought that trash when she was assigned to shopping duty with Kyoko."

"It's not a trash!" Chika defended as she attempted to hug their Jagtiger, feeling hurt that someone was making fun of non-rotating turret. "The Jagd like the StuG and SU are very good tanks."

"I second Chika-chan's opinion!" Her gray-haired girlfriend stepped in and raised a hand. "They might be hard to drive but they have awesome firepower."

"Except for the Nashorn that's totally useless." Yaya added as Tsubomi and her were examining the Tiger. "That aside, your tanks are lacking maintenance. I am surprised you were able to operate these."

"What do you mean?" Itsuki stepped in her direction.

"I mean look here!" She pointed at several pieces of the vehicle. "These parts are all adaptations from nearly-overused pieces."

"Well, it's normal since we are lacking funds." Mutsu added. "We just collected everything we could find and improvised so that the tanks would be able to move and fight. That's mostly the reason why we can't repair back the T-34 and the Marder."

"Oh my…" Chiyo and Nagisa both felt sad at these words and expectantly looked at Shizuma who was teasing a blushing Sugiura Ayano. "Shizuma-sama; we need to do something for them! I mean it's our fault we lost the first match and because of that their chance of acceding the tournament are even lower."

The tall girl sighed. "I got it." She then turned to the Takami sister. "We'll have the SU kit sent here by this evening as well as few pieces as an apology."

"Also, if you're interested, there's the remaining of a Char Fiat that the expedition club found not long ago that is resting in one of our hangar." The girl, whose purple hair was attached in a high ponytail, added. "Since we don't use Italian tanks, we could have it delivered as well."

"Really? Thank you so much zura!"

"You're a lifesaver nya!"

[-x-x-x-]

Just as promised, after the girls of Astrae-Namori spent the day helping Otonokizaka's girl training and coaching them, the evening, a large plane flew by their school carrier and dropped three large boxes. The first one contained the kit while the other one was filled with new pieces that they could use to ameliorate the other tanks and in the last one was the promised Fiat.

While most of the girl went home earlier, Honoka, Seira, Eri, Nozomi, Dia, Ruby and the girls of the automobile club remained behind and had a good look at the bazaar they made in the hangar.

"Woaa! It's a h*ll of a vortex!"

The student council president turned to the young Yazawa girl. "Do you think you could have them ready for our next battle?"

"No problem!" Kotarou gave a thumb up.

"We thank you in advance in that case!"

And with that, they called it a day and went home. The next day, the girls of the automobile club worked on the new projects by ameliorating the already existing tanks and for the rest of the week, took care of the Fiat and SU.

Few days later, their second match was decided. The commanders of each tank were having their jaws drop as they read their assigned enemies.

"You must be kidding me, right?" Niko screamed as she held the paper tightly.

"Seriously…? Kantai high and Harekaze?" Arisa continued. "Do we even have a chance against them?"

Seira placed a finger on her chin as she thought. "Kantai's commander Nagato-san has impeccable strategies and her second-in-command and elite Akagi and Yamato are very redoubtable. On the other hand, the leader of Harekaze—Misaki Akeno—is known worldwide for her inhuman luck while her second—Munetani Mashiro—is smart enough to create near-flawless strategies."

Kotori gulped as she watched her girlfriend. "Honoka-chan…"

Said girl, however, had a smile on her face. "It means we are in a dire situation, right?" She happily said. "If we lose, it's the end. But if we win, we'll still have a chance."

"Honoka-chan…" Chika also looked at her idol and paused an instant, watching the pamphlet containing the information about the match. "The match will take place in a seaside area. Our ally will be…" She paused as her eyes widened. "Whaaaaa…?!"

"What's wrong, Chika-chan?" Yô and Riko rushed by her side and watched what made their friend scream. "Woaaa! Our ally is Oharai?!"

"Oharai?!" Seira and Tsubasa followed as they also watched the paper while Honoka just took a bread and started chewing it. "It's true." The two of them then looked at each others. "We might get a chance with that."

"I heard Oharai was paired with St Gloriana during the first match." Hanayo entered fangirling mode and joined them. "They easily defeated Maginot and 10-nen Kurogumi. That Miho-san and Darjeeling-sama are to be feared."

"But we can't rely on fame alone to win." Their ginger leader commented as she finished her snack. "No matter how famous you might be, being too proud will only bring bad things, just like how Kuromorimine, Pravda and Selection University lost against Oharai."

"I guess that's true…"

"Well… I guess we should ready everything in that case." Honoka happily said as she led the group back to the training ground. "We need to decide which tank to use for the next battle and who shall operate which tank."

They soon arrived at the field where everyone were gathered and told them about the information of the match. Of course, they were frightened to learn who their next opponents were but the fact of knowing who was going to be their ally was enough to motivate them.

"All right!" Eri finally cleared her throat. "Now, let us decide who should be part of the next match."

Maki raised her hand and the other responsible nodded. "I suggest we keep the teams as we were assigned at first. The main reason we lost the last match is because it was weird for few of us to operate different kind of tank all of sudden with different people."

"Nice point you have here." The blonde thought an instant. "I think so as well. We just temporarily assigned these teams randomly because the automobile club couldn't do all the dirty chores alone so we had to send the competent in mechanics help them."

"So, who will do this?"

"Let's see…" Honoka thought an instant while placing a hand on her chin. "Kantai high and Harekaze are both focusing their strategies on medium and fast but high firepower vehicles." She then eyed at the mecha girls. "Is the SU and the Fiat ready yet?"

"They're working perfectly!" Mito smiled happily. "We have already installed the new parts on the Tiger, the Firefly and the Type 97 as well."

"I see… Thank you."

"But who are going to operate the new tanks now?" Nozomi questioned as she took a glance at the two new green-colored chars. "We actually have 30 girls in the club and all already are assigned to one tank."

Yoshimi raised her hand. "We can operate the SU-85."

On the other hand, Kotarou shook her head. Shima gave an apology smile. "Sorry. Mito, Koutaro, Shiitake and I won't be able to help. We'll just keep working on the Marder though."

"I see… Thank you anyway!"

Chika thought an instant before tugging on the student council president's shirt. "Now that I think about it, we only need four people to operate most tank, right?"

"Well… Most of them are either composed of three to six crewmates depending on the chariot but most of our tanks should be fine with only four people."

The ginger's face lit up. "Then, Seira-san and I could operate the Fiat in that case!"

"Hein?" Yô, Riko and other girls looked at their friend as she has lost reason. "Chika-chan, you can't be serious?"

"But I mean it's boring to be only the commander." The mikan lover pouted. "Either Mari-chan or Kanan-chan would make a good commander as well."

"But is it right to only has two people operate a tank?"

"Char Fiat M11/39, armor: 6-30 mm, crew: 3—commander, driver, gunner—, main armament: Vickers-Terni L/40 37 mm, 84 hits, top speed: 32 km/h." Kotarou explained. "It can be operated by two people when really needed."

"See?"

The others sighed as Chika kept her smile. Seira on the other hand just turned to Hideko, Fumiko, Mika and Hanamaru. "I guess it has been settled."

"Seira-chan…" The younger girls started to sob.

The purple-haired girl patted their head. "Do not worry. I have seen your abilities. The four of you should be fine even without me around. Also, I'll keep a constant eye on you in the battlefield so please do not cry."

"Seira-chan…"

Few of the girls sweatdropped until Eri cleared her throat once again. "Anyway, here are the one assigned to this front: the SU-85, the Char Fiat M11/39, the Tiger I, the Jagdtiger and the Type 97 Shinhoto."

The others smiled while the vice president continued. "The rest will be on standby and will help the automobile team install the new parts on the other tanks."

"Yes, ma'am!"

And with that, everyone started walking their way toward the field, getting inside their tanks. Chika and her new partner walked over to their new char and had a good look of it. "Woaa! It's so small and cute~"

"Well… The Italians might have considered it a medium tank but compared to the German and Soviet one, it was usually seen as a light one." The older girl calmly explained as she climbed atop it and sat on the driver's seat. "Do you mind if I become the driver?"

"Of course not! I've always dreamed of being a gunner."

Seira smiled as she powered the engine, having it make a good sound. She played with the gas an instant as to let the oil's flux stable. "You know that you will have to do the loading yourself as well…"

"Well… I guess…" Chika turned at the side the see few shells beside her seat. "But since it's a small tank and our role is only to serve as a decoy, we don't need to shoot and expect to take out anyone, right?"

The reply came in form of a chuckle. "But please try to aim well though. We never know; maybe lady luck will side with us."

The two of them chuckled and Nozomi's voice echoed through the radio. _"Are you all ready?"_

"Aye!"

" _Then, Panzer vor!"_

"Avanti!" Chika joked by speaking Italian, imitating Mari's accent, earning a laugh from her new friend. Said girl finally switched the gear and had the Fiat move forward.

[-x-x-x-]

 **A/N: Why is it I can't find the first episode of Girls und Panzer das Finale anywhere? It's already been two months so why?**


	6. Girly talks on a rainy day

**A/N: From this chapter on, I will be using the official Romanized name of the girls, namely Nico, Eli, Cocoro, Cocoa, Corarou, Alisa, Leah and Sarah.**

 **Also, I do not own Love Live! School idol project, Love Live! Sunshine, Girls und Panzer, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Strawberry Panic, Yuru Yuri, Kantai Collection, High School Fleet (Hai-furi) and Akuma no Riddle (Riddle Story of Devil).**

[-x-x-x-]

Chika blinked several times while watching through her goggles. The new Otonokizaka's Italian char was hidden inside a forest and they were in the middle of training. She inspected the surrounding and dove back inside the Fiat. "Nothing over here as well."

Hanayo, who was assigned as temporal loader for said tank until the end of their second match, was tuning the radio, a headgear on. She slightly took the headphones on and shook her head. "I found nothing as well."

The driver leaned back in her seat and placed a finger on her chin. They had to find the Type 97 that was assigned to hide somewhere while avoiding to get seen by the other tanks. Sarah powered back the engine. "The SU and the Jagd are at the south of this forest while the Firefly is on a recon at the hill in the east." She started to slowly drive the vehicle, attempting to not make too many noise. "It seems they were not hiding here as well. Where shall we go next?"

The commander thought as she watched the map. "Let's head to the west in that case." She then turned to the loader. "Kayo-chan, what is the safest itinerancy to get out of the forest without being spotted?"

Said brunette placed back the headphones on. They were using a special antenna that allowed them to somehow hear few of the surrounding radio communications but were not on top. After the last tournament where Oharai won over the previous champions, the federation has included spying as being allowed during Sensha-do match. They were allowed to do recon missions and others. If captured though, the tank in which the recon girls were assigned would be declared out right away.

"I can somehow hear Honoka-chan's voice but it's kind of hard to hear what she is saying…" Hanayo commented. "I think they are inside this forest and not that far from our position. The more we advance, the better I can hear so it's safe to assume they are in that position." She pointed forward, motioning Sarah to steer toward the north.

"It's such a pain…" Chika pouted as she watched through the scope. On her front-right, the purplenette was calmly driving while the brunette sitting on the chair behind her was paying attention to any noise she could hear from the radio in hope of finding a clue about the Type 97's position. "I want to eat a mikan…"

A chuckle escaped the driver's lips as she reached a hand on the bag placed beside her and took off a fruit, handing it to her friend. "Here! Leah and Yô-san thought this might happen so they gave me this bag."

"Really?" The tracksuit-clad girl happily smiled while accepting the offer.

Sarah nodded. "They told me to give you one every once in a while but not to spoil you too much or you won't be a good commander."

"Hein?" The other girl started to pout as she pealed the fruit and started eating it.

Hanayo, on the other hand, just smiled as she saw the duo of girls. She decided to hand a small handkerchief to the commander. "Here is for you, Chika-chan. I made some of them with Rin-chan and Shiitake-chan to give to everyone." She then turned to the driver. "We made one for Sarah-chan as well so here." She happily handed another one and the PE uniform-clad girl turned to accept the present, gave a polite bow and returned back into driving.

"Wait! You mean Shiitake and Rin-chan has managed to work together without killing each others?"

The brunette smiled awkwardly at Chika's choice of words. "W-well… It all started yesterday after practice when Shiitake-chan approached me and said she wanted to sew something. We went to my house and started working on it. Rin-chan then arrived though and saw how cute the handkerchiefs were and volunteered to help us."

"Woaoo…"

"But it was kind of awkward to pretend being too engrossed in sewing and not seeing them when Shiitake-chan has attempted to flirt with Rin-chan…" Hanayo looked down before hearing something and gave the next directive to the driver. "This time is Alisa-chan's voice. Let us turn right after that next tree." Sarah nodded and changed their course.

"Flirt?" Chika tilted her head while dropping the remains of the now eaten mikan on a plastic bag beside her. She was now clearing her lips with the fluffy tissue her friend has given her. "What do you mean, Hanayo-chan?"

"N-nothing…" She looked down, her face red.

Sarah was fast to realize while the ginger remained clueless. She just chuckled before having the Fiat come into a halt. "It looks like it's about to rain soon. May I propose we wait for the weather to side with us again since we might get into an accident while driving blindly in a forest during a foggy day while it's raining?"

Just as these words were spoken, drops started to fall down at a slow pace but then became more frequent. "It's true." Chika stated as she peeked through the scope. "Let us do so and wait for the weather to calm down. I don't think the tracks are made for driving on muddy area during a rainy day. Plus, our vision will be very limited. Knowing Honoka-chan, she will order everyone to be on standby until it becomes calm again."

"Roger!" The brunette happily said as she took off the headphone and could hear the drops of rain were hitting the tank's roof at a faster pace. "I hope there aren't any holes or we'll end up soaked." Just as these words were spoken, a drop fell on her pants and she flinched. "S-someone help me."

Chika held her hand and had the chubby girl sit on her lap. "There! You should be fine here." She took a glance at the chair beside her. "There are few holes here and there." She pointed near the shells and the radio. "We'll need to have Mito-Nee and Shima-Nee take care of these since we are most likely to have lot of fights while raining."

The other girl, however, had her face bright red. "C-Chika-chan… I-I should be fine so you can let go now…"

"Hein?" The ginger gave a tilt of the head. "Of course not! I can't let Kayo-chan getting wet. I see no problem with Kayo-chan sitting on my lap."

Sarah chuckled. "I think Yô-san wouldn't be that pleased if she heard that."

"What do you mean?"

The driver turned her seat so she was facing the two girls and go surprised by the big oblivious smile glued to Chika's face while Hanayo was trying to hide her red face, attempting to break free from the ginger's arms but was failing. "W-well… How do I say it?" She thought an instant. "I'm a little surprised when I learned that you had a girlfriend but still stay very close with the other girls of the Sensha-do team. Yô-san doesn't seem like the jealous type but I think hearing that your girlfriend enjoy to have other girls sit on her laps would make anyone kind of upset."

The oblivious girl gave another tilt of the head. "What do you mean? I mean, I am just helping a friend in distress. There's nothing wrong with that."

For the first time for years, Sarah sweatdropped. "C-Chika-san…"

[-x-x-x-]

The rain continued to fall until a thick fog was covering the surrounding area. Being in the middle of the sea was a pain at times, especially when the weather started to spoil down.

Inside the Italian tank, the three girls have been quiet for a while now. They just listened to the occasional drops falling on the metallic chair for the loader/radio operator. Hanayo has given up of any form of resistance as she remained seated on her upperclassman's lap. It was an hour since it started raining and it was only getting worse.

As a matter of fact, a growl of stomach alerted the three schoolgirls that they had another problem. The brunette looked down, hiding her face while Chika gave a tilt of the head. Sarah on the other hand, just took another bag containing a riceball and offered it to her needing friend.

"Here! Honoka-san gave it to me. She wanted me to keep it just in case something like this might happen."

"You truly are useful, Sarah-chan."

Said girl gave an awkward smile as the brunette took the bag. Chika hugged her friend as she started to eat her snack. "Aww… So bored!" She complained while digging her face in the younger girl's arm. Hanayo was too busy enjoying her snack that she didn't give it any mind. A sigh escaped the ginger's lips before she finally smiled again. "I know! Let's play a game or something like that."

"How about a scary story contest?"

Hanayo almost dropped the remaining of the riceball at these words before giving an horrifying look the their senpai. Sarah just smiled.

"I was just kidding."

"But I don't think it's a bad idea." Chika insisted cheerfully, holding her friend tightly so she won't accidentally drop her snack. "But instead of scary stories, how about we tell cheerful ones, like back in our childhood or something like that?"

"Or about our loved ones or what we think of our friend's romantic relationship."

Hanayo finished swallowing her riceball and smiled happily, her hunger gone far. It took her a moment before talking again. "I know it's not nice talking about other people but I've been intrigued by few people in our Sensha-do team…" The usually meek girl stated, placing a finger on her chin. "In Sensha-do, lot of girls start harboring feelings for people of the same gender, mostly because they spend lot of time together. Usually, their relationship concludes as they graduate or stops the sport."

"That's right!" The violet-haired upperclassman affirmed. "It's a secret and very confident but I heard Nishizumi Shiho-sama and Shimada Chiyo-sama had that kind of relationship back in high school. They had to separate while graduating and forgot each others, marrying men and having children."

"Scary…" Chika commented as she thought. "Maybe the reason they separate is because their love is not honest enough. Think about it, the just go out with other girls because they can't find boys. In other words, they are just using each others as substitution."

"But true love won't die even after graduation." Sarah continued. "If they see more than just playmates to their friends and are willing to sacrifice things for each other's sake, when their feelings will reach each others, their relationship will be unbreakable. I heard few people have actually renounced their titles to get in open relationship with people of the same gender."

"What you are saying is true!" Hanayo confirmed. "I heard there was even a woman, Yuri (I don't remember her family name), who gave up her title as heiress of her family's traditional Sensha-do team and later became the chairwoman of 10-ne Kurogumi, a school carrier. Right now, the rumors say she is going out with a teacher there, namely Hashiri Nio-san."

"Oh." The violet-haired girl paused an instant as she thought about the fact. "It's true that 10-nen Kurogumi also participates in the Sensha-do tournament. Hashiri Nio is the advisor teacher of their tankery team and is a lot older than she seems like. In appearance, she looks like in her 15 or 16 but in reality is the about the same age as their chairwoman. I heard she had a weak body and was hospitalized for years but finally decided to go back to school despite her age when she finally got cured."

Hanayo nodded. "There are sure all kind of people practicing this sport."

The ginger did agree with that. "The main reason I decided to start Sensha-do is because I'm a big fan of Honoka-chan. She, along with Dia-san, Eli-san, Nozomi-chan and Ruby-chan has started training since middle school. Mito-Nee, Shima-Nee, Shiitake and Cotaro-chan helped them a lot with the maintenance of their tank."

"The Marder III?"

The reply came in form of a nod. "Yô-chan and Riko-chan has agreed to follow me when I declared that I wanted to practice Sensha-do as well. Kanan-chan and Mari-chan was another story. As for Yoshiko-chan and Hanamaru-chan, we just had to bribe them with food and glory."

The brunette sweatdropped. "I think you shouldn't use that kind of vocabulary, Chika-chan…" She smiled awkwardly. "But now that I think of it, most of our teammates are in relationship, right?"

Sarah nodded at that. "The most popular ones are Nozomi-san and Eli-san, Maki-san and Nico-san, Chika-san and Yô-san, Kanan-san and Mari-san…"

"I heard Yoshiko-chan and Riko-chan might be a think as well." Hanayo added. "Anju-chan and Erena-chan seems very close as well and so are Honoka-chan and Kotori-chan."

Chika smiled happily. "Yô-chan is really the best! I don't really know about Riko-chan since her relationship with 'Yohane-sama' is still ambiguous." She then turned to the driver. "What about Sarah-chan? Do you have someone in mind?"

"Not really." The reply came with a calm voice. "I heard Leah and Ruby has been acting very closely lately and people usually ask if I have feelings for Dia-san…"

"So…" That caught Hanayo's interest as she turned to the violet-haired girl.

Sarah gave an awkward smile. "I wouldn't say I love her but I wouldn't say I don't feel anything toward her either. We are both older sisters who enjoy spoiling our little sister and share lot of resemblance."

"Figures." Chika chuckled. "I heard that the two of you are both siscon so I thought you would secretly be in love with Leah-chan and Ruby-chan respectively."

That earned her a blush from the other girl. "I might be very close with Leah but I can assure you it is just sisterly love. However, I can't confirm for Dia-san and Ruby." She muttered the last part, making the younger girls to tilt their head. "Since we are talking about it, may I ask you about your relationship with Rin in that case?" She turned to Hanayo.

"M-me?" The shy girl pointed to herself awkwardly before starting to fidget with her fingers as the other girl nodded. "W-we are just childhood friends… I am usually asked if Rin-chan and I are going out and it's not the case. She seems too innocent for that thing and I think we should at least wait before graduation."

"Serious, aren't we?" Sarah teased, making the younger girl to blush. She then turned back to Chika. "How about your projects?"

The ginger thought an instant before waving a smile. "After graduating, Yô-chan and I will study agronomy and have our own field of Mikan. Later on, we will attend Navy and sail across the Pacific Ocean with a large trading ship full of Mikans."

The two other girls paused as they heard that. Chika's dream was passionate indeed but something seemed a little odd. Hanayo just chuckled it off. "I envy you though, Chika-chan. You are so determined to make your dream come true."

"How about Hanayo-chan?"

"M-me?" Chika nodded, motioning her friend to continue. "I was thinking about becoming a professional Sensha-do player… However, I don't think I will be able to make it."

"That's not true. I know that Hanayo-chan can do it! Believe in yourself!"

"Chika-chan…"

"That was very sweet of you." The older girl replied, giving a cheerful smile. Not long after, she realized the rain was slowly dying. Looking at the small square glass in front of her, she saw that it was calming down outside. "Looks like we can move again."

The ginger nodded as she let go of the brunette. The loader's seat was still wet but decided it was not that uncomfortable to let her friend stay on her lap. "Then, let us advance."

Hanayo just reached for the headphones and put them on without leaving her spot. As the Fiat's engine powered up and it moved forward again, she heard something and decided to inform her crewmate. "I think I can hear Hanamaru-chan's and Fumiko-chan's voices."

"Really?" Chika had lot of expectations.

"But I can hear Maki-chan's as well… That means both the Crusader and the Type 97 are close by."

Chika thought about it and sure enough, they arrived at an intersection. "Which way to go, hun?" She just smiled while looking through the scope and decided to order to take the left one.

"Why the left though? Each of them has the same probability."

"That's because my instinct said we should turn left." The commander replied with a triumphant smile and sure enough, they found the Type 97 not long after. It was being hidden in bushes and the Italian tank managed to surprise it from behind.

Hideko peeked from the hatch and smiled at Hanayo and Chika who also got out of their char. "Looks like you found us."

The three other girls in the Japanese tank got out as well and met up with their former commander. "That's Sarah-chan for you!"

"I think it was more thanks to Chika-san that we made it that far."

"M-me?" Chika pointed to herself, unsure.

The reply came in form of a nod. "I understand now why Riko-chan insists that you are a 'normal monster'." Their loader added.

" _All right everyone!"_ Nozomi's voice echoed from the radios. _"The training is over for today! Please pack up everything and let's meet back at the hangar."_

"Roger!"

And then everyone got back into their assigned tanks and drove back to the training field.

[-x-x-x-]

"We are meeting with the girls of Oharai?" Hanayo, Chika, Yô and Kanan asked at once as their gaze turned to the student council president.

The girls from the Tiger, Jagd, SU, Type 97 and Fiat were gathered at the student council room after Eli called for them to announce something. "Nishizumi Miho-san has sent an invitation so we could talk about the strategies we should use during the upcoming battle."

"Really?" The chubby first year girl couldn't still believe it. "I mean we get the privilege of fighting alongside them and in addition, get invited to meet with them in person. Is this a dream? Please someone pinch me!"

Nozomi walked behind her and instead of pinching her cheeks, she went with giving her chest a good rub. The purplenette was having one of her trademark grins on her face. "I have something way better than pinching cheeks."

"Woaaa! Someone please help!"

Eli sweatdropped as she just stood up from her chair and handed one letter to Honoka. "I won't be able to go with you and Tsubasa also called earlier to tell she had a special event to attend." She turned to the driver of the Italian tank. "Sarah-san, please keep a constant eye on Honoka for me, okay."

The others sweatdropped as the ginger started to pout. "I am not going to do anything idiot! How old do you think I am?"

"Worry not, Eli." The gunner of the Tiger calmly stated, ignoring her childhood friend's complain. "Leah and I will make sure Honoka stay focused."

"Jeez! Umi-chan!"

Kotori just placed a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder as she gave an apology smile. "Please hang in there, Honoka-chan! I will bake you some bread after the meeting is over."

"Really?!"

The gray-haired girl just nodded as an answer. Seeing that scene made Chika wants to try something so she approached her girlfriend, waving a very bright smile. "Yô-chan, let's have a mikan pajama party tonight!"

"Mikan pajama party?" Mutsu, who was standing beside them, couldn't help but to ask.

"Well…" The ginger started to explain. "It's like a normal pajama party but we get three full boxes of mikans and eat them all until dawn. The first one to fall asleep is a loser and will have to brush the winner's teeth for a week."

Hearing that made Riko imaginating lot of 'shameless' shenanigans between her friends as she held her nose, fearing a nosebleed from overimaginating. Umi covered her ears and ran to the corner of the room while Nozomi gave a thumb up. "Oh my… so bold~"

"Hein?" Chika just tilted her head as Yô's face slowly turned red.

Ruby turned to her sister, oblivious about the implication. "What do they mean, Onee-chan? What's wrong about brushing each other's teeth? We always do that though."

And then again, the others had mixed reaction. Dia just attempted to avert her gaze as she started rubbing the beauty mark on her chin. "W-well… Every sister does that and it's normal… but for people not related, it is similar to kisses…or even more."

"What are you saying, Dia-san?" Leah slightly tilted her head. "Onee-sama and I have never brushed each other's teeth."

Honoka also raised her hand. "Neither have Yukiho and I."

The older Kurosawa didn't know how to respond to that. She just lowered her head and started dragging her sister toward the exit. "T-then, we will be leaving earlier today. O-our aunt will be visiting us so we need to prepare." She lied openly, refusing to look back at anyone, her finger still rubbing her beauty mark.

As soon as they were out, Nozomi and Mari eyed at each others. "They are going to make out somewhere, right?"

"Yes! They are going to _make out_ somewhere!" The blonde insisted as she used a mix of American and Italian accent.

"You two…" Eli and Honoka sweatdropped while Leah just clenched her fist as she started emitting a dark aura. The ginger saw that and sighed as she whispered to her lover. "Is she jealous?" Kotori just nodded awkwardly at that question.

[-x-x-x-]

The few girls from Otonokizaka have arrived to Oharai via a merchant ship. They were warmly greeted by the Sensha-do team led by the third year student, Nishizumi Maho and company. Hanayo thought she was in heaven as the prodigy commander has shaken everyone's hand.

Only the girls from the Tiger, the Jagd, the Type 97, the Fiat and the SU were present since everyone else was busy. The four girls of the student council had overtime work to do and the girls of the Matilda have proposed to give them a hand. The automobile club members still had some maintenance to do and Rin was eager to her friend-rival Shiitake. Maki and Nico decided to remain behind and make sure no incident happen.

"Thank you for having us today!" Sarah bowed politely as they were led inside a large conference room. There was a large table in the middle and several chairs surrounding it. Several other girls were already there and stood up as the newcomers arrived. "Nice to meet you all! We are Otonokizaka's Sensha-do team." The violet-haired girl gave a bow and everyone else followed.

They were led inside and took seat, slightly exchanging look at each others. Hanayo was trying to keep her composure as she couldn't still believe who she saw in front of her. Noriko, the loader and commander of the Type 89 was seated from across her while Azusa was just beside her, at her left. At her right seated no one else but Erwin, the radio operator of the StuG-III.

Miho walked beside the whiteboard and was followed by her crewmates. They turned their smile to their guests. "We thank you for coming today to decide the plan of the upcoming match. Oharai is happy to welcome you all and wish we can get along well. I am Nishizumi Miho, commander of our team."

Honoka stood up and turned to the hostess. "I am Kousaka Honoka and I direct Otonokizaka's fleet." She made a joke, earning her a pair of glare from her serious childhood friend and her underclassman. "Hehe. We are also looking forward to be friend with you all!" She gave a bow, deciding to make too much scene or Umi will get mad again.

Miho just smiled back and saw Chika raise her hand. The ginger stood up as the brunette didn't seem to object. "Since we are all here and going to become friends? How about calling each others with our first name? First of, I'm Chika…but you can call me Chikacchi!"

Few of the other girls were a little hesitant but Honoka decided to play along. "Then, I am Honoka!"

Sarah has decided to go next as she stood up. "Kazuno Sarah here! Please do not be shy and be as friendly as you want."

"Please feel free to call me Hanayo." The brunette beside her smiled happily.

"Then, I'm Fumiko." The other brunette beside Hanayo happily said before gesturing to the taller girl beside her. "And here is my girlfriend, Mika~"

The room fell in a dead silence an instant as the shorter girl's face turned crimson red. She was not embarrassed about the truth but saying that with such straight face in front of so many people would make anyone feel at unease.

It was finally Miho who broke the silence. "W-well… That's good to hear."

"I mean, doesn't that surprise you? They're both girls." Her teammate, Takebe Saori whispered to the commander.

In response, the brunette just shook her head. "At least half the girls in Kuromorimine are into each others so I'm used."

The ginger just sweatdropped but said nothing more. She just sighed while watching as the other girls introduced themselves.

"Just call me Hideko in that case." The other girl beside Mika added.

"And I'm Kunikuda Hanamaru zura."

"Zura?" Saemonza gave a tilt of the head and the brunette quickly hid behind her taller teammate.

"We are the Yo-Itsu-Mu trio!" The brunette who just stood up said cheerfully.

Chika just chuckled. "You can all count on Yoshimi-chan, Itsuki-chan and Mutsu-chan. They are very reliable and will never let you down."

"That's good to hear then." Isobe Noriko commented. "I can sense lot of guts in them."

The girls of Otonokizaka sweatdropped at her last comment but decided against asking. Erwin just took the occasion to give a piece of her mind. "A powerful trio, hun?"

"Three amigos." Oriyo added.

"The three musketeers." Caesar commented.

"Wouldn't the three mage king fit better?" The driver of the M3 Lee—Karina—wondered.

"More like the three goddesses of the sacred virtues, namely Love, Truth and Courage." The secondary gunner—Saki—guessed.

"That's it!"

Azusa sighed. "Jeez! You guys…"

Leah, sensing the tense atmosphere, just stood up and remained calmed and composed. "Kazuno Leah." She said in a calm voice before sitting back again.

"That's all?" Akebi, the gunner of the Type 89, wondered a little too loud.

Her friend, Shinobu just sighed. "Maybe she is just shy."

"That lacks guts…"

Umi did just like their driver as she stood up straight. "I am Sonoda Umi, gunner of the Tiger I and it's a pleasure to meet you all. Please take care of us from here on." She made a polite bow.

As she was back to sit again, the bluenette displayed a cool smile. Saori thought she saw a handsome person instead of the girl from earlier and shook her head. _"Calm down, Saori! She's a girl, no matter how handsome she could be."_

The sleepy girl beside her just elbowed the ginger. "Saori! You're making a funny face."

The taller girl made a shocked face as the gunner of the Panzer IV just chuckled. "You expression was so funny after Sonoda-san introduced herself. I thought you did it on purpose so I just remained quiet."

"Ehhhhh?"

"You don't need to be that formal. Just call her Umi-chan." Honoka added.

"Then, Umi-san." Hana corrected.

The next one to introduce herself was the gray ash-haired girl who stood beside Honoka. "I am Minami Kotori."

"And she's my cute girlfriend." The ginger cut her with a huge smile. "I am very possessive so please do not molest her please… even if I know her cuteness is almost criminal."

"Honoka-chan…" A blush spread itself on the taller girl's face.

"What are you talking about, Honoka? The only people who have ever gropped anyone are Nozomi and Mari. I doubt anyone in Oharai would be as crazy as these two."

"Hey! That was mean." Mari pouted at Itsuki's comment.

"So shameless!"

"Ahem!" Kanan cleared her throat as to bring seriousness back. "Anyway, I'm Matsura Kanan. Nice to meet you all!"

"And she's got some pretty handsome abs too!" Mari added shamelessly, making the taller girl to flush. "I'm Mari by the way. No need to be shy and just call me _Onee-chan~_ "

Yô sighed as she was next. She saluted. "I'm Watanabe Yô, the driver of the Jagd Tiger. Ready to go full speed ahead, Yousoro!"

"And she's my girlfriend!" Chika added, earning a small blush on the other girl who just sat back and hid her red face in her palm.

Saori just gave a blank look. _"How many girls couples are there in Otonokizaka…?"_

The red-head next to Yô just gave a polite bow. "I'm Sakurauchi Riko."

That was pretty much everyone from Otonokizaka who has attended. It was now time for their host to introduce. The first one who did was the girls of the StuG-III team.

"It's Erwin!"

"I'm Caesar!"

"Just call me Oriyo _ze yo_!"

"I go by the name of Saemonza!"

Mika leaned against her girlfriend as to whisper a question. "Is that really their real names…?"

"I doubt it…" Fumiko just replied. "Though I am not sure…"

Next ones were the crew of the Type 89. Their commander went first. "I'm Isobe Noriko! Please feel free to join the volleyball team if you've got some guts!"

Already there, Yô and Kanan thought they had some point in common. "Then, how about we have a little match after the meeting is done?" The bluenette proposed.

"Sounds like a good idea!" Her girlfriend mused. "Count me in as well!"

"Volleyball?" Honoka repeated. "That sounds fun! Honoka wants to play to~ Of course, Kotori-chan and Leah-chan are interested as well."

"Eeeeeh?"

"Where did that come from? Jeez, Honoka-senpai!"

The girls of the Volleyball team just laughed at that. "We'll be glad to play with you. In that case, feel free to call me Shinobu." The driver smiled.

"And I'm Sasaki Akebi but please just call me Akebi." The blonde said before gesturing at the red-head beside her. "And this is Taeko-chan."

"Is it me or most girls of your club are all third years…?" Yoshimi wondered. "Well… I guess it is hard to find younger girls interested in sports nowadays."

"But the three of us are just second years…" Taeko commented back, surprising few girls from Otonokizaka. "Only the captain is a third year."

"O…kay…"

The next group to introduce was the freshman team. Their leader decided to go first. "I'm Azusa. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She gave a polite bow.

"It's Saki!" The glass-wearing blonde beside her added.

"Oh my… _shinny glasses_!" The radio operator of the Jagd said in English as to emphasis.

"Just call me Karina!" The driver continued.

"I'm Yuuki!" The radio operator and second loader said.

"And she just broke up with her boyfriend!" Mako said, coldly.

"That was mean, Reizei-senpai!"

The ravenette just yawned, paying no mind to the girl's complaint or to Saori who was trying to lesson her about her bad maneers.

"I'm Ayumi!" The main gunner just continued before gesturing to the quiet girl who stood beside her. "And here's Saki."

Finally, the Agerfish team went last.

"I'm Miho! You can call me Mipporin if you want. Almost everyone I know already call me that."

"Everyone you know?" Hanayo suddenly felt some yuri was about to happen. "Who that?"

"W-well… Saori-san, Darjeeling-san, Kay-san, Alice-chan and Hanazono Shizuma-san…"

And then Hanayo had to take a tissue and quickly cover her nose before her imagination went wild. The ginger of the Panzer IV just sweatdropped before speaking. "I'm Takebe Saori! If you ever got relationship problem, please approach me."

"Really?" The fast answer came from Yô who saw this as an opportunity. "Then, could I please talk to you after the meeting is over?"

"S-sure…"

Riko gave a tilt of the head as she leaned closer to the brunette. "Is there something wrong with your relationship with Chika-chan?" She whispered discreetly.

The response just came in form of a sigh. "Chika-chan is so dense and innocent. I always feel like a crazy jealous girlfriend every time she gets to close to other girls. This morning already, she told me about how she had fun talking with Sarah-san and Hanayo-chan."

"I see no problem with that."

"That would also be my case if it wasn't for the fact Hanayo-chan was sitting on her lap."

"Oh…"

Mako just sighed. "It's Reizei Mako!"

Hana smiled as she went next. "Please just call me Hana!"

The messy-haired brunette beside her also saluted. "I'm Yukari! Everyone calls me Yukarin or Sergeant Oddball."

"Oddball?" Chika wondered.

"Well… With that done, let us talk strategy then." Eli cleared her throat as to bring seriousness back.

"Sure thing!"

And then, the conference to discuss strategy started. Having to face both Kantai High and Harekaze Academy was going to be tough but they were going to give their best.

[-x-x-x-]

 **A/N: I finally saw it! Girls und Panzer das finale episode one is out in my country and I loved it~ Can't wait for the episode two… However, I heard it will only come out in Japan at December… It sucks… That means GuP will end in five years since it's an episode a year? *sigh***

… **Anyway…**

 **See you next time!**


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